Gamelan Videos

Balinese Gamelan Music - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRS13e5R8GI
Mission Impossible Music ala Gamelan from Indonesia - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1h5dcjRIQ-E

Instruments

The instruments of the gamelan can be organized generally into three categories based on their musical functions. Some instruments mark time, some play the core melodies, and others play elaborations of those melodies. Specific instruments like the kendang can have several different functions depending on the music and performance context.

1. The Time Markers - gong, kenong, kempul, kethuk, and kempyang. 2. Base Melody - saron and slenthem. 3. Elaborating Melody - bonang, gambang, gender, rebab, and suling. 4. Drums - kendang. List of Instruments: kempul gongageng kenong gong suwuk ketuk kempyang saron barung kendang batangan kendang gending rebab suling saron demung saron panerus saron panerus gambang bonang slentem gender

History of Gamelan

A gamelan is a musical ensemble from Indonesia, typically from the islands of Bali or Java, featuring a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings. Vocalists may also be included.
The term refers more to the set of instruments than to the players of those instruments. A gamelan is a set of instruments as a distinct entity, built and tuned to stay together — instruments from different gamelan are generally not interchangeable.
The word "gamelan" comes from the Javanese word "gamels", meaning to strike or hammer, and the suffix "an", which makes the root a collective noun