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SMUKI Gamelan Training Session

Written by Wiharjo

Sunday, 07 March 2010

Have you ever walked pass the T-junction on a Friday evening? Have you ever heard of cacophonies coming from the vacant area beside OCBC bank? Nope, that’s not construction workers, and it’s not ghosts either. It’s the sound of SMUKI-ers doing gamelan training.

Gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring variety of metallophones, drums, and gongs. The instruments are played by hitting it with mallet.

Every Friday from 5pm to 8pm there will be a gamelan training session guided by Kang Tatang (gamelan instructor). So, what do we do during the training? We’ll be given a few verses of melody and we’ll need to hit the various metal shapes accordingly to produce a symphony.

As with any musical instruments, playing gamelan for the first time is quite hard. Hitting the correct metal bars in a certain pattern repetitively can be quite challenging when your hand doesn’t move as you want. Reflexes and subconscious moves are leading your hand astray, repetitive patterns and the fast pace are causing your brain to lose track, and finally you’re starting to think that your hand might have its own brain.

At first, the training session will look like a bunch of people playing whack-a-mole with one instructor shouting like crazy trying to coordinate everyone. The sound produced are more or less like that of a metal smithy, where various metals clank together simultaneously.

However, after many-many repetition, the sounds get better and better. Various notes and tones are starting to fit in places creating a harmonious symphony. And when the music is done correctly, it will feel as good as when you’ve aced a mid-term test. It’s a very nice getaway experience, especially if you’re bored of mugging.

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