| Name | Image | Description | Video |
|---|---|---|---|
| Angklung |  | Angklung is a musical instrument 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 from side to side. This causes a rapidly repeating note to sound. Thus each of three or more angklung performers in an ensemble will play just one note and together complete melodies are produced. | |
| Bedug |  | The bedug (Javanese: bedhug) is one of the drums used in the Javanese gamelan. Unlike the more frequently-used kendang, the bedug is suspended from a rack and played with a padded mallet. It is similar in size or larger to the largest kendang. It is not adjustable like the kendang, but has pegs holding the two identical heads in place, similar to the Japanese taiko. Its sound is generally deeper and duller than that of the kendang. | |
| Bonang |  | The bonang is a musical instrument used in the Javanese gamelan. It is a collection of small gongs (sometimes called "kettles" or "pots") placed horizontally onto strings in a wooden frame (rancak), either one or two rows wide. All of the kettles have a central boss, but around it the lower-pitched ones have a flattened head, while the higher ones have an arched one. Each is tuned to a specific pitch in the appropriate scale; thus there are different bonang for pelog and slendro. They are typically hit with padded sticks (tabuh). This is similar to the other cradled gongs in the gamelan, the kethuk, kempyang, and kenong. | |
| Calung |  | A calung is a bamboo tube xylophone used by the Sundanese people of West Java. It can have from 2 to 19 tubes connected by two cords. Jegog is a form of gamelan music indigenous to Bali, Indonesia played on instruments made of bamboo. All instruments have eight bamboo keys. Some instruments have two keys for each pitch slightly detuned so that the pitches beat when they are played together. | |
| Celempung |  | The celempung and siter are plucked string instruments used in Javanese gamelan. They are related to the kacapi used in Sundanese gamelan. The celempung and siter each have between 11 and 13 pairs of strings, strung on each side, between a box resonator. Typically the strings on one side tuned to pélog and the other to slendro. The siter is generally about a foot long and fits in a box (which it is set upon while played), while the celempung is about three feet long and sits on four legs, and is tuned one octave below the siter. They are used as one of the elaborating instruments (panerusan), that play cengkok (melodic patterns based on the balungan). Both the siter and celempung play at the same rapid speed as the gambang. | |
| Gambang |  | A gambang, properly called a gambang kayu ('wooden gambang') is a xylophone-like instrument of Indonesian origin used in gamelan, with wooden bars as opposed to the metallic ones of the more typical metallophones in a gamelan. A type of wood known as berlian is normally used to make Gambang's bars. A wooden case is built to support these bars and to act as a resonator. Each Gambang has approximately 19 to 20 bars. The gambang is used in a number of gamelan ensembles. It is most notable in the Balinese gamelan Gambang. | |
| Gangsa |  | A gangsa is a type of metallophone which is used in Balinese and Javanese Gamelan music. It consists of several tuned-metal bars which are hit with a mallet and each make a note of a different pitch. The gangsa is very similar to the gendér and the saron. | |
| Gendér |  | A gendér is a type of metallophone used in Balinese and Javanese gamelan music. It consists of 10 to 14 tuned metal bars suspended over a tuned resonator of bamboo or metal, which are tapped with a padded wooden disk. Each key is a note of a different pitch, often extending a little more than two octaves. There are five notes per octave, so in the seven-note pélog scale, some pitches are left out according to the pathet. Most gamelans include three gendérs, one for slendro, one for pelog pathet nem and lima, and one for pelog pathet barang. | |
| Gong |  | A gong is an East Asian musical instrument that takes the form of a metal disc which is hit with a mallet. The photo shows a gong collection used in a Gamelan ensemble of Indonesia. A gamelan typically features a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums, and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings, and vocalists may also be included. | |
| Kecer |  | The kecer (or kecèr) are a pair of small cymbals set inside a rack (rancak) used in the gamelan of Indonesia. The rack is similar in design to that of a saron, except less wide. The bottom cymbals are permanently fixed in the rack, while the top are attached by a cord to the bottom ones. They are used in the accompaniment of wayang (an Indonesian and Malay word for theatre.) | |
| Kempul |  | A kempul is a type of hanging gong used in Indonesian gamelan. It is often placed with the gong suwukan (the smaller gong in the set used for smaller phrases) and gong ageng (the largest gong in a Javanese and Balinese gamelan), hanging on a single rack, at the back of the gamelan, and these instruments are often played by the same player with the same mallets. | |
| Kendang |  | Kendang is the primary drum used in the Gamelan ensembles of Java as well as various Kulintang ensembles in Indonesia, Malaysia, Brunei and the southern Philippines. They usually are placed on stands horizontally and hit with the hands on either side while seated on the floor. One side is generally larger than the other, with the larger, lower-pitched side usually placed to the right. The skin is typically made of goat or buffalo, stretched on y-shaped leather or rattan strings, which can be tightened to change the pitch of the heads. | |
| Kenong |  | The kenong is one of the instruments used in the Indonesian gamelan. It is technically a kind of gong, but is placed on its side and is roughly as tall as it is wide. It thus is similar to the bonang, kempyang and ketuk, which are also cradled gongs. Kenongs are generally much larger than any of those, however. Its pitch is actually rather high considering its size; its sound stands out however because of its unique timbre. | |
| Saluang |  | The saluang is a traditional musical instrument of the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra, Indonesia. It is similar to the flute in general and made of bamboo. It is related to the suling of other parts of Indonesia. | |
| Saron |  | The saron is a musical instrument of Indonesia, which is used in the gamelan. It typically consists of seven bronze bars placed on a wooden trough, which also serves as resonator. It is usually about 20 cm (8 in) high, and is played on the floor by a seated performer. Three instruments belong to the saron family that employ different sizes and pitch registers: the largest size with the lowest register is called Saron demung or demung. The medium size with a medium octave range is called saron barung or saron. The smallest size and highest register is called saron panerus or peking. | |
| Slenthem |  | The slenthem (also spelled slentem) is an instrument in the gamelan. It is similar to the family of sarons, in that it usually has seven keys and a range of about an octave, pitched below the saron demung (the lowest saron), and generally the same as the slentho. However, in sound it is much softer than the saron, because its keys are in the delicate shape of those of the gendér, and it is hit with soft mallets (tabuh) like those used on the gendér. The resonator bars below the keys are more similar to the gendér than the saron. It generally plays the basic melody (balungan) of a composition, although it sometimes uses techniques similar to the saron to elaborate. It is especially favored in quieter gamelan ensembles. | |
| Suling |  | A suling is an Indonesian/Philippine flute made out of bamboo. It is used in gamelan ensembles. Depending on the regional genre, a suling can be tuned into different scales. Sulings are made mainly of 'tamiang' bamboo (Schizostachyum blumei, Nees), a long tube bamboo which has very thin surface. The head of suling, near a small hole, is circled with a thin band made of rattan or rotan to produce air vibration. | |
| Talempong |  | A talempong a small kettle gong which gives its name to an ensemble of four or five talempong as well as other gongs and drums. The term can refer to the instrument, the ensemble, or the genre of music. Talempong is a traditional music of the Minangkabau people of West Sumatra, Indonesia. The talempong produce a static texture consisting of interlocking rhythms. Talempong can be used to play a wide variety of music, including traditional and modern. | |
| Xylophone |  | The xylophone is a musical instrument in the percussion family which probably originated in Indonesia. It consists of wooden bars of various lengths that are struck by plastic, wooden, or rubber mallets. Each bar is tuned to a specific pitch of the musical scale. Xylophone can refer to western style concert xylophones or to one of the many wooden mallet percussion instruments found around the world. Many western historians believe xylophones began in Eastern Asia, spreading to Africa. It is likely that the xylophone reached Europe during the Crusades. The xylophone, which had been known in Europe since the Middle Ages, was by the 19th Century associated largely with the folk music of Eastern Europe, notably Poland and Eastern Germany. By 1830, the xylophone had been popularized to some extent by a Russian virtuoso named Michael Josef Gusikov. In 1831 he constructed what he called a wood and straw instrument (see image), essentially a xylophone laid out like a cimbalom on a soundboard made from rolls of straw which allowed a loud resonance. |
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