"Music of the World" – MUL 2720 (Spring 2009) - Warfield

Review Sheet # 5
Nettl, Excursions, Chapter 6 (Indonesia)

NB. You are only responsible for pp. 160-181 (5th Edition) of the textbook.
  1. Know some of the basic facts about the country of Indonesia. Where and what is it, both geographically and politically? Who were some of the other nations/peoples that have influenced this region, and what influences, if any, have those peoples had on the culture and especially the music of Indonesia?
  2. Even though almost 90% of the people of Indonesia are Muslim, what are some ways that the influences of other belief systems, e.g., Animism, are evident in the music of this region? Why is the Gongsmith so revered, and how does one treat the objects that he makes? In what other way does Indonesian music reflect the fundamental cultural beliefs of traditional Indonesia?
  3. What is a Gamelan (What exactly does the word mean)? What sorts of instruments are included in a gamelan, and what are the primary instruments, i.e., the Gongs, made of? What instrument is the Saron and what is its primary function?
  4. How are instruments tuned, especially with regard to one another, and what is the relationship of all the instruments in a particular gamelan to one another?
  5. What does a Gamelan sound like in performance? What is Colotomy or Colotomic structure, and how do you hear it?
  6. What is the Balungen or the Nuclear Melody (also called the Skeletal Melody in the textbook), and how do you hear it?
  7. What are the elaborating Instruments and what sorts of parts do they play? What are Interlocking Parts and who plays them? What instrument directs and controls the performance, e.g., determining tempos, giving cues to other instruments, etc.?
  8. What are some of the uses of the gamelan, both today and historically, i.e., where does one hear a gamelan played?