Gamelan
Indonesian gong ensemble
- Sources
- 33 independent: not from a mic maker
What it is
Indonesian ensemble of tuned metal gongs and metallophones (gender, bonang, peking, saron), drums, and often rebab, flute and voices; sizes from 7 or 8 players to over 30. Javanese pelog and slendro tunings differ between ensembles. Balinese instruments are built in pairs tuned slightly apart to produce "ombak" beating (Wikipedia).
Range
No range for the whole ensemble. Lowest instrument: a fine gong ageng in the Nusantara Museum, Delft, measured at a 44.5 Hz fundamental (Wikipedia). Highest not found.4
Where the sound goes
Many sources spread across a floor. Spot miking gives separation; stereo gives the blended character and imaging (SciTePress).
About the range
Each instrument family has its own range; no single range. Not researched further.
How loud
Sound pressure level measurements as published. Different kinds of figure (a playing level, a peak, a dose at the player's ear) can't be compared with each other, and neither can figures at different distances.
| Playing level | |
|---|---|
| 77–108 dB | at five measuring points around the gamelan (corners and centre), meter inside the playing area; no distance stated; Balinese gamelan (gong kebyar) played by karawitan (gamelan) students during practice at ISI Denpasar, measured 16-27 Sept 2013; thesis says the sound had 'very fast fluctuation' especially in gong kebyar playing. Group of 73 students.5,5 |
| 88–100 dB | at the measuring points around the gamelan; no distance stated; Gamelan gender wayang (small Balinese shadow-play ensemble) heard by pedalangan (puppetry) students at ISI Denpasar, measured Sept 2013. Group of 22 students.5,5 |
| 85–90 dB | at the measuring points around the gamelan; no distance stated; Daily exposure of dance and sendratasik (drama) students at ISI Denpasar from the gamelan accompanying them, measured Sept 2013. Group of 71 students.5,5 |
| 90–115 dB | not stated; Abstract of the same thesis (E-Jurnal Medika Udayana 2014): the noise intensity of Balinese gamelan 'in one type of its tabuh (playing)' is between 90 and 115 dB. secondary6,5 |
| 90.55–100.76 dB | not stated (average intensity per instrument); Thesis Table 2.3 quoting 'PGPKT Bali, 2013' (a measurement at SMK Seni Sukawati, a Balinese arts high school) of average intensity per gamelan instrument: gangsa pemade 100.76 dB, gong 96 dB, jegogan 95.6 dB, jublag 90.55 dB, kemong 100.27 dB. secondary5,5 |
| 95–106.3 dB | in the noisy working environment of the players (no distance stated); Barong dance gamelan players (penabuh tari barong) with 10 or more years' service and no hearing protection, in a study by Ayu-Wiastiti (2008) cited in Tantana's discussion; 70% had noise-induced hearing loss versus 5% of controls. secondary5 |
A Balinese thesis measured gamelan practice at ISI Denpasar at 77-108 dB around the playing area (gong kebyar; weighting and distance not stated), 88-100 dB for the small gender wayang ensemble, and quotes up to 115 dB for one playing style and about 91-101 dB per instrument from a school measurement.
Recording it
An Indonesian study compared XY, NOS, ORTF and AB stereo pairs of Neumann KM 184 at 2.5, 3 and 3.5 m from the ensemble midpoint; NOS was the most preferred, with a questionnaire among listeners (professional categories split). A Gearspace summary says engineers spot-miked Javanese gamelan with many condensers, using figure-8 and hypercardioid on small instruments for isolation; bleed adds atmosphere; seat the players as they prefer; the rebab (fiddle) needs a mic with a smooth top.
Mics
- 3 setups from 3 sources, 3 of them independent of any mic maker.
- On top: the mics more than one source names for this instrument, in any role, the most named first. That is a count of sources, not our verdict.
- In the full list, each mic shows how many sources name it for that role, and how many of those come from a mic maker.
No mic is named by more than one source yet: each names its own.
All the mics sources name, by setting and role (2)
Studio
Contact
- Trance Audio Inducer1 source
The 3 setups behind this: placement and quotes
- Spot many condensers, spot-miked; figure-8 and hypercardioid on small instrumentsspot mics per instrument, smooth-top-end mic on rebab
Javanese gamelan spot-miked with lots of condensers; figure-8 and hypercardioid on small instruments for isolation (search-result summary).
1 - Main pair or array 2 × Neumann KM 184ensemble stereo pair at 2.5, 3 and 3.5 m from ensemble midpoint; NOS preferred
Pair of KM184 compared in XY, NOS, ORTF and AB at 2.5-3.5 m; NOS was the most preferred technique.
2 - Contact Trance Audio Inducercontact, on the bowed metal ugal keys (experimental bowed technique, cello bow across the key edge)
Instead of a conventional microphone, a Trance Audio Trance Inducer contact mic was used. The metal Ugal keys were bowed using a standard cello bow.
3
Sources
- Gearspace: Recording a Gamelan ensemble
- Sebastian and Simanjuntak (2019), Study of Preference for Stereo Recording Techniques of a Pelog-based Gamelan Gender, Bonang, and Peking Ensemble, ICONARTIES
- Soniccouture: Bowed Gamelan (sample library)
- Wikipedia: Gong ageng
- Tantana, O.: Hubungan antara jenis kelamin, intensitas bising, dan masa paparan dengan risiko terjadinya gangguan pendengaran akibat bising Gamelan Bali pada mahasiswa Fakultas Seni Pertunjukan (master's thesis, Universitas Udayana; full-text PDF of the E-Jurnal Medika Udayana article)
- E-Jurnal Medika Udayana 3(3): Hubungan antara Jenis Kelamin, Intensitas Bising, dan Masa Paparan dengan Risiko Terjadinya Gangguan Pendengaran akibat Bising Gamelan Bali (article page with abstract)