Javanese Gamelan

Harmonization and True Feeling (Rasa) as a Symbol of Javanese Gamelan

When Francis Drake visited Java in 1580 and recorded a Javanese gamelan playing, he reported, “It were of a very strange kind, yet the sound was pleasant and delightful.” Javanese Gamelan is one of the musical traditions in Indonesia. Today, it becomes popular in some countries. Some well-known ethnomusicologists (e.g. Jaap Kunst, Judith Becker, R. Sutton, J. Lindsay, Sean Williams, Denise Hill, etc) also have elucidated it deeply.
For Javanese, gamelan is not just a set of instruments. In that pleasant and delightful sound of instruments, there is a musical world that encompasses tools, musical structures, social processes, and spiritual sensibilities. There are harmonization

The syncretism can be seen in the practice and social functions of gamelan. Javanese Gamelan indeed had a place during the Hindu-Buddhist Javanese kingdoms which ruled from the 5th through the 14th centuries. It was only played at certain occasions, such as ritual ceremonies, special celebrations in the palace, shadow puppet shows, and for the royal family. After Javanese Islam spread through the region, the Javanese Gamelan systems were developed to commemorate the birth and death of the prophet Mohammed and it is also played at royal circumcision and wedding ceremonies which mark a change in status, when according to Javanese belief, the ‘cosmic balance’ may be upset.
Hence traditionally, Gamelan was of a communal nature in Java, expressing cultural ideals, aspirations, and worldviews. Today, it is performed as concert music at social and cultural gatherings to welcome guests and audiences, and also it is used to accompany many kinds of both traditional and modern dances, drama theatrical and

Harmonization
Although there are some changes in practice and social function, there is no change in the core of gamelan: harmonization that is one of the values in Javanese culture. Harmonization means a process to involve the sacrifice of individual goals and aspirations, to care and concern for the other, to acknowledge of mutual obligations. Gamelan playing symbolizes that value. Lindsay writes, “Gamelan playing is not a soloist’s art...as with Javanese society, the mark of being a good musician is being able to fit in integrally, indispensable, and unobtrusively with one’s neighbors.”
A harmonization can be found when twenty different kinds of instruments in Gamelan are played together.“If one player makes a mistake, to avoid embarrassment, the group continues to play and tries to correct it next time round, thus illustrating the importance of harmony.” Because of this focus on group rather than individual musical production, there is no tradition of virtuoso solo performers, Gito saprodjo comments, “The playing of a gamelan group must be smooth and harmonious. The situation must be avoided in which one person tries to show off his expertise to the disadvantage of others... it must be remembered that gamelan playing is a collective activity. Is there a freedom for musicians or composers to express their