Insitu Recordings

From Issue 1

About Issue 1

Insitu Recordings

English

We have hit the ground running in the premiere issue of the Insitu Recordings Magazine. Contributors to ISSUE 1 share their unique perspectives resulting in a collection of writing as diverse as the musical world it describes. The issue pays homage to time-honored traditions alongside newer forms and delves into gamelan-related activity from Indonesia, Southeast Asia and North America.

I Putu Arya Deva Suryanegara tracks down a recent history of gamelan selonding, detailing how it has changed from an ensemble with specific ritual functions primarily in eastern Balinese villages to one of the latest trends on the island (Selonding: Nafas dan Kehidupan Baru), we hear from three generations of Balinese musicians, I Wayan Sinti, I Made Arnawa, and Putu Tiodore Adi Bawa, who offer their takes on the five most important gong kebyar pieces of the last century (Top 5 Pilihan Gong Kebyar), and Michael Tenzer, composer and author of the most authoritative text on gong kebyar music, details 14 of his favorite works for the ensemble (Pilihan Terbaik Gong Kebyar). Insitu Recordings also had the privilege to interview I Made Arnawa in which he chronicles his transformation from a young farmer in Tabanan to an internationally acclaimed composer of new and traditional music (Cerita Kehidupan: Wawancara Bersama I Made Arnawa).

Readers may learn about new gamelan ensembles in my piece about I Wayan Arik Wirawan and Gamelan Pesel (Versatility as Innovation: Getting to Know Gamelan Pesel) and Andrew McGraw’s review of the debut album from Vancouver’s Gamelan Bike-Bike (Album Review: Hi-Ten), take a journey to a fictional island off the coast of Kalimantan in a review of Taikuh Jikang’s album Umi To Yoru (Imagined Traditions: Taikuh Jikang and Kohey Kawamura by Justin Devries), explore the world of homemade synthesizers in an interview with Jogja’s leading noise musician, Lintang Raditya (Java-Noise: An Interview with Lintang Raditya by Danny Martin), and find a broader perspective about fringe musical communities in Southeast Asia with George Rahi (Book Review: Not Your World Music: Noise in Southeast Asia).

We are grateful to all the authors for their contributions and hope the magazine will support our goal of fostering new connections between artists within and beyond the gamelan world.

Bahasa

ISSUE 1 ini, kami sangat beruntung mendapatkan beberapa kontributor yang telah menyumbangkan pemikiran, pengetahuan, dan pengalamannya sehingga majalah ini bisa terwujud.

Dengan kerja keras dan kesabaran, majalah ini berhasil mengumpulkan informasi tentang inovasi di dalam dunia gamelan termasuk ansambel baru bernama Gamelan Pesel yang dibuat oleh seniman muda I Wayan Arik Wirawan (Versatility As Inovation: Gamelan Pesel oleh Zachary Hejny) dan perjalanan keseniman dari salah satu seniman senior yang bersahaja (Cerita Kehidupan: Wawancara Bersama I Made Arnawa). Selain itu, ada persepektif karya-karya gong kebyar dari para seniman lintas generasi yang sangat bervariasi seperti I Wayan Sinti, I Made Arnawa dan Putu Tiodore Adi Bawa (Top 5 Pilihan Gong Kebyar), termasuk seniman asing yang sudah menjadi bagian dari gong kebyar bernama Michael Tenzer. Dia menguraikan empat belas tabuh favoritnya di gong kebyar dari tahun 1925-2005 (Pilihan Terbaik Gong Kebyar).

Gamelan saat ini tidak hanya menginspirasi musik baru di Bali saja, tetapi sudah tersebar ke berbagai negara seperti yang mengilhami terciptanya Taikuh Jikang di Jepang dan Gamelan Bike-Bike di Kanada. Itu jelas dalam artikel oleh Justin Devries (Imagined Traditions: Taikuh Jikang and Kohey Kawamura) dan review album Hi-Ten oleh Andrew McGraw (Album Review: Hi-Ten – Gamelan Bike-Bike). Tidak saja gamelan, namun ada juga musik jenis lain berkembang di kawasan Asia Tenggara yang patut kita ketahui, seperti musik-musik noise yang tumbuh subur di Indonesia (Book Review: Not Your World Music: Noise in Southeast Asia oleh George Rahi). Hal itu dikuatkan lagi dalam wawancara bersama salah satu artis noise yang menceritakan tentang kolaborasinya dengan Insitu Recordings di Pande Sida Karya (Java-Noise: An Interview with Lintang Raditya oleh Danny Martin). Tidak lagi ada batas yang memisahkan sekarang, semua koneksi terhubung oleh nafas dan celah-celah baru yang diciptakan oleh ruang dan waktu, seperti cerita menyebarnya selonding di Bali akhir-akhir ini oleh I Putu Arya Deva Suryanegara (Selonding: Nafas dan Kehidupan Baru).

Patut kita memberikan apresiasi kepada kontributor atas apa yang telah disumbangkan terhadap majalah ini dengan harapan bisa lebih mendekatkan orang-orang yang berbeda umur, tempat dan ide sehingga bisa menjalin hubungan satu dengan yang lain.

Insitu Recordings

About the author(s)

Zachary Hejny

Zachary Hejny is a California-born composer and performer of experimental music currently based in Indonesia. His artwork explores polytemporality, incidental tuning systems, ecological sound structures, and philosophies of noise. Current projects include the design of an electro-acoustic percussion instrument using found materials, an environmental sound map, an album of etudes for drum set and synthesizer, a metronome practice aid for Balinese kendang tunggal and various music for visual media. He received a DMA in composition from UC Santa Cruz in 2021 and recently completed a Fulbright research grant focusing on relationships between traditional music practices in Lombok, Bali, and East Java.
Zachary participates in various contemporary music scenes on Bali, primarily as an avid student of gender wayang, gamelan composer, and performing sound artist. Previous involvement with Balinese music involves a Darmasiswa cultural immersion scholarship (2012), a master’s degree from ISI Denpasar (2015), numerous festival commissions (including the Bali Arts Festival in 2017), and a Fulbright research grant (2023). He also volunteers as an Assistant Director and board member for Insitu Recordings, where he helps edit a digital magazine, maintain an archive of historical gamelan recordings, and document and promote creative work by emerging Balinese composers.
As an educator, Zachary has taught electronic music and gamelan at UC Santa Cruz, given numerous invited lectures and seminar presentations throughout Bali, and occasionally mentored younger composers in electronic music techniques.
Aside from music, he is an avid reader, language learner, chess addict, and anti-imperialist.
Tabanan, Bali, Indonesia

I Putu Gede Sukaryana (Balot)

I Putu Gede Sukaryana, better known as Balot, began taking gamelan seriously when he enrolled at the high school arts conservatory SMK 3 Sukawati at the age of 15. After graduation he enrolled in the karawitan program at Institut Seni Indonesia, Denpasar, where he engaged with talented and aspiring musicians from across Bali and realized a future dedicated to music was possible. By the time he completed his arts education on Bali he was already a highly sought after performer, and since graduation he has been invited to lead several high-caliber international collaborations, including reworks of Scarlatti’s keyboard music and Bach fugues for Yantra Productions (Italy), experiments with Lithuanian electronic musician and composer Paulius Kilbauskas, and collaborative compositions with American composer Wayne Vitale. His work is recognized internationally and celebrated for its originality and emphasis on process over product. In 2016 he co-founded the record label and arts collective Insitu Recordings with Jonathan Adams and is currently the project’s artistic director. In 2017 he accepted a visiting artist residency at the University of British Columbia, where he got his Master’s degree in Ethnomusicology.
Desa Beraban, Tabanan, Bali, Indonesia
Photo: Jonathan Adams

© Insitu Recordings 2018