Playful combination of jazz and gamelan

Playful combination of jazz and gamelan

By Franki Raden

JAKARTA (JP): If you are a musician, you are used to
recognizing the differences in pitch of various instruments. In
an ensemble, the differences of pitch among instruments are to be
avoided if you do not want the music to be out of tune.

This is the basic problem with fusing Javanese gamelan (using
the slendro and pelog scales) with piano, saxophone, accordion
and other Western instruments using the diatonic scale. Western
musical instruments have had a standard pitch since the middle of
the 19th century. Therefore, the pitch of a piano or a saxophone
is always the same everywhere.

That is not the case with gamelan. Each gamelan set generally
has a different pitch, meaning it is not standard. It is rare for
one gamelan set to play at the same pitch as another, let alone
with a piano, saxophone or accordion.

Thus it might be difficult to imagine what would happen if a
composer combined gamelan with piano, saxophone and accordion,
but this is what Indonesian gamelan composer Sapto Raharjo and
French flutist Montanaro did in their show at the Gedung Wayang
Orang Bharata on Wednesday.

In the third, fourth, sixth and ninth parts of their
composition (their works bear no titles), Montanaro and the Sapto
gamelan group each had a share in the work. One side played an
improvisation of melodies, the other played a number of gamelan
instruments with indefinite pitch to avoid a clash between
Montanaro's diatonic scales and Sapto's slendro-pelog scales.

In another composition, the first, seventh and tenth parts,
the clash was softened by Montanaro playing the pelog scale on
his instrument. The difference in pitch remained audible, but in
its great outline the music was harmonious. Another means used by
Montanaro to "deceive" the audience's ears was to play flute
noted distorted by strident and hushed sounds or brisk attacks.

Another method producing an attractive effect occurred when
Montanaro played melody improvisations based on modal scales or
drone elements, e.g. in the third and fourth compositions. In
this piece the difference in pitch had the effect of captivating
bitonality.

Montanaro's improvisational style was based on the insertion
of folk music with strong ethnic elements and beautiful pastoral
shadings. The most catchy example was when Montanaro used the
flute to set a balance with Sapto and his group, who played a set
of gambang bamboo instruments. The eighth, a standard traditional
gendhing composition, did not fare well. When Montanaro made an
effort to introduce his diatonal flute improvisation, the
impression was one of ignorance and foolishness.

The same impression was perceptible in the fourth composition
of the second part when Montanaro played the piano and Sapto used
the gong and kempul. In the first part, where Montanaro's
improvisational play was still based on an attractive drone, the
music became chaotic when he diverted this improvisational base
to the tonal music concept which relied on a conventional chord
progression.

Here it was apparent in his chaotic handling of modulation
elements that Montanaro has not mastered functional harmony. Nor
was he familiar with piano playing techniques in a professional
way. The second part of the composition went into disarray and
Montanaro's playing was very amateurish.

Montanaro does not appear to be a composer in the professional
sense. He is a flute player with tremendous virtuosity. In this
respect Sapto has the same weakness. From the composition point
of view their works look simplistic and lack imagination.

A musical meeting arranged merely by feelings of exoticism has
never produced anything of depth. This is especially the case
when the two musical cultures involved have developed for
hundreds of years and reached an established esthetic.

However, a music performance does not always have to be
serious in character. Performing playfully is also a healthy
musical activity. In this case the performance by Montanaro and
Sapto Raharjo and his group succeeded in entertaining the
audience -- evident from the warm applause after each of their
works.

Lucky were they who heard the performance in a non-analytical
way.

The cooperation of Montanaro and Sapto Raharjo was very good.
Sapto, with a background in gamelan and rock music, is an
Indonesian composer sensitive to rhythmic elements in a
composition. This was shown in his handling of rhythm in nearly
all of the evening's compositions. Montanaro is an accomplished
flute soloist.

The compositions of the evening were at their best when each
contributed his individual strength, such as when Sapto got
underway with his rhythms and Montanaro played his melodies. By
applying this strategy, the problem of pitch and scale
differences between gamelan and piano, accordion, flute or
saxophone were avoided.