An object that emits three colors at different times. The colors and positions of the lights create an array which heavily influences the flow of motor traffic. The composer expresses this idea in a piece of music for reong.
Breath and spirit can be found at the center of all life, especially human life. Throughout their lives people experience problems and external influences that erode one’s original character over time. This piece explores the concept that a musical structure or composition is given breath via the spirits of the musicians playing it. Nafas is scored for jegogan, jublag, and pemade from semar pegulingan.
In molding our identity we must be conscious of both our actions as well as distorted perceptions about reality. As beginners we are empty, and later filled with deficiencies. The composer creates deliberately unusual treatments of pitch and other musical elements in this piece titled Halusinasiku.
Ujan Memedi refers to the natural phenomenon of rain falling while the sun shines bright. Such rain often goes undetected as the sun’s rays manipulate cloud formations in the sky. As a result we cannot prepare before the rain falls. I believe that nature is playing music, raindrops falling on my gamelan instruments. Helpless, I allow my gamelan to be soaked by the rain. “The sound ignites my musical imagination” (Thank you God).
This composition began as an experiment writing music to be played by many musicians (colossal). The title Klausal Organis comes from the word klausal, meaning inter-relatedness, and organis, referring to something organic that can be nurtured and treated. Klausal Organis describes something that develops naturally through interactions between the composer’s insight and the colossal concept. This process has manifested in a piece for massive gender ensemble made up of three sub-groups that traverses the spectrum between traditional and modern nuance.
This piece is about the relationship between musicians, dancers, and audience. Four kajar are arranged in a circle, each kajar gives a different metric (11, 10, 7 and 5 beats) to a group of four reong or trompong. The dancer acts as a conductor, an extension of the listener, and a sound engineer. In some parts, he gives cues for the music to change. In other parts, the dancer is guided by the music, discovering the inside of the sound by moving through it. The binaural microphones he wears make it possible for the listener to feel like being part of the artistic event. The audience is invited to understand the movements of the dancer only by listening, as hearing the motion through space is more obvious with this type of recording. Some instruments might be less or not at all audible depending on the dancer’s distance from the source but they are still played. Every performance varies, since the dancer can freely influence many of the piece’s aspects. Every participant has to be attentive to the others in order to adjust his/her own part. The musicians, dancer, and listener become one.
A composition for percussion instruments inspired by Hari Mahardika’s Rampak Djembe, which explores concepts of unity or oneness (NGATEP/RAKET). Here the composer has attempted to implement this concept into music for Balinese kendang. Raket is scored for kendang cedugan, kendang krumpung, kendang cedut, kendang angklung, kecek, and gong pulu.
Recording session coordinator(s): Yan Priya Kumara Janardhana (Janu)
Recording date(s): 2017/02/12
Recording location(s): Tanah Lot, Desa Beraban, Tabanan, Bali
Audio recording: Jonathan Adams, I Putu Gede Sukaryana (Balot)
Video recording: Jonathan Adams, I Putu Gede Sukaryana (Balot)
Crew: Yan Priya Kumara Janardhana (Janu), I Putu Arya Deva Suryanegara (Arya)
Audio mixing: Jonathan Adams
Audio mastering: Jonathan Adams
Video editing: I Putu Gede Sukaryana (Balot)
Photography: Jonathan Adams
Cover art: Jonathan Adams
