Angklung - Definition and Overview

Angklung is a style of gamelan found primarily in Bali, Indonesia. It is also the name of a bamboo musical instrument from which the ensemble gets its name.

The musical instrument called angklung is made out of two bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame. The tubes are carved so that they have a resonant pitch when struck. The two tubes are tuned to octaves. The base of the frame is held with one hand while the other hand shakes the instrument rapidly. This causes a rapidly repeating note to sound. Each person in an ensemble will play just one note.

Balinese Gamelan Angklung is an ensemble of mostly bronze metallophones. The instruments are tuned to a 4 tone slendro scale. While the ensemble gets its name from the bamboo shakers, these days most compositions for Gamelan Angklung do not use them.

Further reading

• Balinese Music (1991) by Michael Tenzer Periplus/University of Washington Press .

External links

• Gamelan Sekar Jaya (http://www.gsj.org/Home/index.cfm?fuseaction=Library.DisplayDoc&thisFileName=BM_Angklung.htm)

Example Usage of Angklung