Gambang kromong is a traditional orchestra of Betawi people which is a blend of gamelan, Western music and Chinese-style pentatonic base tones. Gambang kromong is closely associated with the Chinese Betawi community, especially the Chinese Peranakan. It was popular in the 1930s.
Gambang kromong orchestral instruments consists of: gambang kayu (a xylophone-like instrument), kromong (a set of 5 toned bonang), two Chinese rebab-like instruments called ohyan and gihyan with its resonator made out of a small coconut shell, a diatonic pitched flute that is blown crosswise, kenong and gendang drums. Western instruments such as trumpets, guitars, violins, and saxophones may also be included. [1]
Nie Hoe Kong, Kapitein der Chinezen, a musician and Dutch-appointed leader of the Chinese community in mid-18th-century Batavia, is considered one of the early figures who developed the Gambang kromong. [1]
In its first appearance in Batavia, the orchestra was called gambang. Later in the beginning of the 20th century, they began to use additional instruments, the bonang or kromong, so it is called gambang kromong. During that period, almost every part of Batavia had a gambang kromong orchestra. [1]
Gambang Kromong reached its peak of popularity around 1937. One of the popular groups was Gambang Kromong Ngo Hong Lao, whose players were all ethnic Chinese people. The instruments used in the orchestral group were considered to be the most extensive. For the wealthy Chinese, it was a custom to liven up a party by calling a gambang kromong orchestra, usually accompanying a song. Gambang kromong was also performed during the Cap Go Meh festival, sometimes with plays. [1]
Gambang kromong used the Chinese scale instead of the local slendro typical in Javanese, Sundanese, or Balinese gamelan. The set appears in the xylophone-like instrument gambang, used in the orchestra. [1]
In addition to accompanying songs, Gambang Kromong usually accompanies social dances such as the Cokek dance, a newly created performance dance as well as in Lenong theatre. [1]
The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars struck by mallets. Like the glockenspiel, the xylophone essentially consists of a set of tuned wooden keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. Each bar is an idiophone tuned to a pitch of a musical scale, whether pentatonic or heptatonic in the case of many African and Asian instruments, diatonic in many western children's instruments, or chromatic for orchestral use.
Gamelan is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. The most common instruments used are metallophones and a set of hand-drums called kendang, which keep the beat. The kemanak, a banana-shaped idiophone, and the gangsa, another metallophone, are also commonly used gamelan instruments on Bali. Other notable instruments include xylophones, bamboo flutes, a bowed string instrument called a rebab, and a zither-like instrument called a siter, used in Javanese gamelan. Additionally, vocalists may be featured, being referred to as sindhen for females or gerong for males.
As it is a country with many different tribes and ethnic groups, the music of Indonesia itself is also very diverse, coming in hundreds of different forms and styles. Every region has its own culture and art, and as a result traditional music from area to area also uniquely differs from one another. For example, each traditional music are often accompanied by their very own dance and theatre. Contemporary music scene have also been heavily shaped by various foreign influences, such as America, Britain, Japan, Korea, and India.
Gamelan degung is a form of Sundanese musical ensemble that uses a subset of modified gamelan instruments with a particular mode of degung scale. The instruments are manufactured under local conditions in towns in West Java such as Bogor and Bandung. Degung music is often played at public gatherings in West Java, such as at local elections, as well as many other events. There is international interest in degung as well among communities in other countries interested in Indonesian and gamelan music.
Gamelan surakarta A typical large, double gamelan in contemporary solo (Surakarta) will include, in the sléndro set, one saron panerus, two saron barung, one or two saron demung, one gendér panerus, one gender barung, one slenthem, one bonang panerus and one bonang barung, one gambang kayu, one siter or celempung, one rebab, one suling, one pair of kethuk and kempyang, one set of three to five kenong, one set of three to five kempul, one to three gong suwukan, and one gong ageng.
The angklung is a musical instrument from the Sundanese in Indonesia that is made of a varying number of bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame. The tubes are carved to produce a resonant pitch when struck and are tuned to octaves, similar to Western handbells. The base of the frame is held in one hand, while the other hand shakes the instrument, causing a repeating note to sound. Each performer in an angklung ensemble is typically responsible for just one pitch, sounding their individual angklung at the appropriate times to produce complete melodies.
The music of Suriname is known for kaseko music, and for having an Indo-Caribbean tradition.
Gamelan beleganjur is one of the most popular styles of gamelan music in Bali. Its closest Western analogue is probably the Western military band.
Betawi people, or Batavians, are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the city of Jakarta and its immediate outskirts, as such often described as the native inhabitants of the city. They are the descendants of the people who inhabited Batavia from the 17th century onwards.
A gambang, properly called a gambang kayu is a xylophone-like instrument used in Indonesian gamelan and kulintang ensembles. It has wooden bars (wilah) in contrast to the metallic ones of the more typical metallophones in a gamelan. A largely obsolete instrument, the gambang gangsa, is a similar instrument made with metal bars.
Kroncong is the name of a ukulele-like instrument and an Indonesian musical style that typically makes use of the kroncong. A kroncong orchestra or ensemble traditionally consists of a flute, a violin, at least one, but usually a pair of kroncongs, a cello in Pizzicato style, string bass in pizzicato style, and a vocalist. Kroncong originated as an adaptation of a Portuguese musical tradition, brought by sailors to Indonesian port cities in the 16th century. By the late 19th century, kroncong reached popular music status throughout the Indonesian archipelago.
Kemayoran is a district of Central Jakarta, Jakarta in Indonesia. It was best known for the former Kemayoran Airport and it has been transforming as a new central business district. As of 2023, it consists of numerous four and five-star hotels, restaurants, premium office towers, hospitals as well as shopping and entertainment centers. Kemayoran is also home to the Jakarta Fair, the largest and longest fair in Southeast Asia that attracts more than 4 million visitors annually.
The Malay Gamelan is a style of music originated from Indonesia, performed in ethnic Malay-populated regions of Indonesia and Malaysia as well.
Gandrung is a traditional dance from Indonesia. Gandrung has many variations and is popular in Bali, Lombok, and Eastern Java among the Balinese, Sasak, and Javanese. The most popular variation is gandrung from the Banyuwangi region in the eastern peninsula of Java, so much so that the city is often referred to as Kota Gandrung or "the city of gandrung". Originally a ritual dance dedicated to the goddess of rice and fertility, Dewi Sri, it is currently performed as a social dance of courtship and love in communal and social events, or as a tourist attraction. Gandrung Sewu Festival is held at Banyuwangi annually.
Lenong is a traditional theatrical form of the Betawi people in Jakarta, Indonesia.
A kongahyan is an Indonesian musical instrument played by drawing a bow across one or more strings. Kongahyans are similar to the rebab, which can be found in Java, Bali and Sunda Islands. This musical instrument is played for shows on those islands. The kongahyan is smaller than two other Indonesian instruments, the tehyan and sukong.
Roti gambang or ganjel rel is an Indonesian rectangular-shaped brown bread with sesame seeds, flavoured with cinnamon and palm sugar.
Tanjidor is a traditional Betawi musical ensemble developed in Jakarta, Indonesia. This musical ensemble took the form of a modest orchestra and was developed in the 19th century, pioneered by Augustijn Michiels better known as Major Jantje in the Citrap or Citeureup area on the outskirt of Batavia.
Gambang may refer to:
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