PROPELLER ISLAND'S COMPLETE GAMELAN

The gamelan recorded on this CD-ROM consists of the following instruments:

1 GONG BESAR large bass gong

1 GONG KECIL small gong

6 JENGLONG tuned high-rimmed gongs (low pitch)

14 BONANG tuned high-rimmed gongs (medium pitch)

2 SARON 2 xylophones, each with 14 metal bars (high pitch), tuned slightly apart to give a 'beating' effect when played together.

1 GENDANG BESAR large drum

2 GENDANG KECIL smaller drums

2 SULING BESAR large flutes

2 SULING KECIL small flutes

I had this Javanese gamelan specially made for me to sample by a small but famous workshop which also built the instruments for the Indonesian National Orchestra. Several craftsmen worked for a month to build it. The instruments are tuned to a special 5 note scale known as 'pelog', a pentatonic tuning system which, it seems, has often attracted writers of sequenced electronic music!

The samples on this CD-ROM are divided into four main groups:

1. STUDIO SAMPLES

2. MONO SAMPLES

3. WORKSHOP SAMPLES

4. REDUCED SAMPLES

1. STUDIO SAMPLES

These consist of stereo samples, recorded to the highest sound specifications with a wide variety of performance techniques. The STUDIO SAMPLES section uses the largest amount of sample memory - between 2 and 19 MB. All recordings were done in a sound proofed room with a Jacklin Disk and modified RFT/Neuman mikes. The extraordinary natural stereo effect of each instrument was achieved by having the other instruments close by, resonating in sympathy as they would during a gamelan recital (reverb plates work on the same principle). In order to keep the sampling time within acceptable limits - in some cases the instruments sustained for 60 seconds - almost all the sounds have been faded.

On the JENGLONG and BONANG I have used five different hitting techniques, the first of these being the orthodox method; the subsequent four I have called 'UNUSUAL STRIKES'. Traditionally , JENGLONG and BONANG are played by striking the central boss with a corded beater. Harder hits produce greater volume, but hardly any variation in tone. In the UNUSUAL STRIKES section, these instruments are played with a small wooden mallet (usually used for playing the SARON) in 3 different places, Wall, Edge and Top (see sketch included for exact positions). Top 1 and Top 2 are medium and hard hits in the same place. In UNUSUAL STRIKES every hit sounds different, and the overtones produced make the pitches quite hard to define. I selected the hits I thought would be most useful and adjusted their tuning by ear for the 'western temperament' programs. The GENDANG (drums) section features a large number of different hits to make the creation of natural-sounding grooves easier. There is a series of 14 hits on the small drum and more than 30 on the large!

The SARONS (xylophones) have two performance variations - in the first , the notes sustain, but in the second, the notes are damped by gripping the bar with the hand.

Most of the GONGS are sampled at half rate, as they contain no high frequencies. This halves the memory requirement.The SULINGS (flutes) are the only instruments in this section to be recorded in mono. They are played with and without vibrato, and are unlooped - however, you will find looped and truncated SULINGS in the MONO SAMPLES section.

2. MONO SAMPLES

This second group of samples and programs is derived from the stereo STUDIO SAMPLES section. The layout is just the same, except that here only one side of the stereo sample is used. The sound quality and selection is identical with the STUDIO SAMPLES, but only half the amount of memory is needed. Also included are programs where the mono samples are panned to create a stereo image.

3. WORKSHOP SAMPLES

So called because they were recorded in a small Indonesian workshop. Because of the improvised recording situation, the sound of these samples is a little rough, less pristine than the studio samples, but this is more than compensated for by their fantastic live atmosphere.

Two different types of microphone were placed wide apart, and the resulting 2 channel recording is represented by two groups of programs, ML (mono left) and MR (mono right). These two completely different sounding programs are also combined in a program called MLR (mono left and mono right), to give a quasi-stereo picture. All the instruments except the SULINGS are featured here.

4. REDUCED SAMPLES

A repeat of the WORKSHOP SAMPLES, but at half the sampling rate, for the benefit of those with limited sampler memory. The narrower frequency range of the WORKSHOP recordings meant that halving their sampling rate was no problem, and this makes it possible to load in a COMPLETE GAMELAN of more than 80 samples! These programs are called ORCHESTRA.

5. ATMOSPHERES

Here you will find some 'sounds of Indonesia' which help create the right atmosphere for gamelan music.The binaural recording captures the nocturnal murmurings of the jungle, the bustle of the 'open air concert hall', and a short piece of (Balinese) gamelan music repeated in an endless loop.

THE PROGRAMS

As the samples in their original tuning consisted of a 5 note scale, it seemed logical to assign them to the 5 black notes of the keyboard. Depending on range, the lowest note of a group of samples is assigned to either C#1, C#2 or F#3. The next black note up gives you the next pitch up of each respective instru-ment. Some of the programs have the samples playable over the whole keyboard in an approximation of our western tuning. The GENDANG (drums) and GONGS use only the white notes, starting on C1. In the drum programs each white key plays a different sample.

The ORCHESTRA programs, which consist solely of reduced samples, feature a number of different sample to key assign-ments which use both black and white keys.

Throughout the program names you will find various abbreviations used to describe different programming techniques. The abbreviations come after the instrument name, sometimes in combination.