161 The Use of Laras in Contemporary Gamelan Music Iwan Gunawan, Rita Milyartini, Juju Masunah Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Indonesia Submitted: 2022-03-08. Revised: 2022-05-22. Accepted: 2022-06-20 Abstract Gamelan instruments, which have a distinctive tone system (scale) or are called laras, are a chal- lenge for contemporary composers in their working techniques. In contrast to Western music which uses a “well-tempered” system, gamelan music has a distinctive phenomenon in its tone system, including the absence of standardization of basic notes and tone intervals. This article aims to analyze the concept of garap and the phenomenon of the use of laras) in contemporary gamelan music. The method used is content analysis, by taking four contemporary gamelan works that use the concept of garap on the use of a new scale, which is auditorily difficult to identify the scales in conventional musical knowledge. The content used is in the form of audio recordings and notations, which are then analyzed by various parametric musical aspects. The results show that there were two directions of garap on the tone systems (scale) in contemporary gamelan music. First, the direction of the garap is done by limiting the tones of the tone systems used in constructing the sound both vertically and horizontally. As in Supanggah’s “Thongkleng,” only five of the seven notes are used in the laras pelog. Meanwhile, in Mack’s “Crosscurrent,” only four tones are used out of the five notes in the laras degung. The direction of the second interpretation is to expand the tone by mixing other tones to build the impression of a new tone. In O’Neil’s “Les- son of Garden” and Gunawan’s “Noname and Nothing,” there is a chromatic approach to me- lodic contours to obscure the impression of conventional tone. O’Neil focuses more on melodic tone processing, while in Gunawan’s work, the tone processing is more rhythmic and random. Keywords: gamelan, contemporary music, garap concept, laras How to Cite: Gunawan, I., Milyartini, R., & Masunah, J. (2022). The Use of Laras in Contemporary Gamelan Music. Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education, 22(1), 161-173 Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 22 (1) (2022), 161-173 Available online at http://journal.unnes.ac.id/nju/index.php/harmonia DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15294/harmonia.v22i1.35483 rence will affect the music’s atmosphere. In this case, Sugiarta (2022) suggests that the laras slendro has an atmosphere that is happy, cheerful, light, sad, miserable, or even romantic, while the laras pelog gene- rally produces an atmosphere that gives the impression of being dashing, majestic, and sacred. In Sundanese music, one of the fi- gures who developed the theory of laras, namely Rd. Macyar Angga Kusumadinata. The theories he put forward became a re- ference for reviewers of karawitan (instru- INTRODUCTION Various formulations of the laras (traditional scale) in gamelan music have been widely discussed to this day. In the Javanese gamelan laras, Risnanda (2018, 99) suggests that in a set of gamelans, each ricikan (instrument) has a different embat. When played separately (independently), it will feel uncomfortable, but when soun- ded together with other instruments, it will blend and produce a laras with its own embat. In Balinese gamelan, the tone diffe- Corresponding author: E-mail: iwan_gunawan@upi.edu p-ISSN 2541-1683|e-ISSN 2541-2426 Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 22 (1) (2022): 161-173162 mental and vocal music) not only in Sundanese musicals but also used as a re- ference in researching the tone phenome- non in Javanese and Balinese music. Sasaki (2021:318) has written about the review of the theory of tones in Sundanese music. One of the peculiarities of Sundanese music is the presence of a scale (laras) cal- led sorog. In Javanese and Balinese music, only two types of laras are recognized, namely slendro and pelog, while in Sun- danese music, there are three types of la- ras: salendro, pelog, and sorog. These three scales are all clearly pentatonic. Fundamentally, what was formula- ted by Kusumadinata (1969) in his book entitled “Ilmu Seni Raras”, presented the differences in the intervals of the pitch and the relevance between the tones used in Sundanese karawitan. This is very help- ful for musicians or singers in processing or using various tone differences in prac- tice. However, even what Kusumadinata has formulated can inspire artists in his garap with new aesthetics. Garap is a sys- tem in traditional arts such as karawitan or wayang in working on their creativity (Supanggah, 2009). An example of a case in implementing this theory is the work of gamelan music by Koko Koswara (Mang Koko) and Nano Suratno. These two artists are known as Karawitan reformers. On the other hand, the theory of sys- tem formulated by Kusumadinata, especi- ally related to the formulation of intervals of the pitch in Sundanese musical tones, has been criticized by several parties. Her- mawan et al. in Saepudin (2015) and also in Sasaki (2019) showed their disagree- ment on the basis of their research based on a sample of 52 waditra (musical instru- ments) throughout West Java. Meanwhile, Sasaki (2019) questioned Kusumadinata’s statement which states that “…sorog and pelog are scales derived from salendro (ga- melan salendro).” In his conclusion, Sasaki (2019:128) stated that “…pelog cannot be considered a scale derived from salendro (gamelan salendro)”, while another assump- tion states, “Therefore, it can be presumed that sorog is a scale derived from salendro (gamelan salendro). What Sasaki said, for the authors, is a misunderstanding of the terminology of the term pelog in the context of Sundanese karawitan. Whereas Sasaki (2019:126) him- self stated as follows. To see the relationship between salendro, sorog (which he terms madenda), and pelog (which he calls degung), Kusu- madinata developed the salendro scale into ‘rakitan salendro (salendro assembly)’ by imbedding tones in between the five salendro tones, i.e. raising or lowering the five salendro tone. In the theory formulated by Kusu- madinata, the term pelog referred to is la- ras degung. This is because, in the society of Sundanese karawitan, the laras degung is considered to be more or less the same as the laras pelog of Javanese gamelan. Thus, to mention the laras degung, Sundanese nayaga (musicians) often use the term pelog or me- log (such as pelog). However, if we measu- re in detail the interval structure between the laras degung of the Degung gamelan (Sunda) and the laras pelog of the Javanese gamelan, there is a significant difference. Therefore, based on Kusumadinata’s the- ory, there are four different interval struc- tures in Sundanese karawitan arranged in cents, namely: Salendro T . . S . . G . . P . . L . . T 240 240 240 240 240 The smallest interval unit is 80 cents Degung 1 . . . . 5 4 . . 3 . . . . 2 1 400 80 240 400 80 The smallest interval unit is 80 cents Madenda/Sorog 1 . . . . 5 . . 4 3 . . . . 2 1 400 240 80 400 80 The smallest interval unit is 80 cents Pentatonic Pelog (Jawar) 1 . . . . 5 4 3 . . . . 2 1 400 1331/3 1331/3 400 1331/3 Iwan Gunawan, et al., The Use of Laras in Contemporary Gamelan Music 163 The smallest interval unit is 1331/3 cents The interval relation is very clear for the interval structure of the laras degung and madenda/sorog. Therefore, Kusuma- dinata formulated this laras into a suru- pan system based on the basic tone in the salendro laras. Thus, there are various pos- sibilities for using these laras based on dif- ferences in their interval structure. Howe- ver, among these possibilities, Saepudin (2015: 53) suggested that Sundanese kara- witan has five laras, namely salendro, pelog, degung, madenda or sorog, and mataraman or mandalungan. What Saepudin stated above re- emphasizes Kusumadinata’s formulation regarding the relevance of the interval structure of the degung and madenda laras with the salendro laras based on the surupan system so that there are other laras, matara- man or mandalungan. In the theory formu- lated by Kusumadinata, the mataraman la- ras have the same interval structure as the degung laras, the only difference is the basic tone. Therefore, Kusumadinata formula- ted that there are two systems in the laras of the gamelan, namely degung dwi suara (two-voice degung) and degung trisuara (tri-voice degung) The two-voice degung laras means that two notes are crushed (same) with the salendro laras. While in the tri-voice degung laras, three tones are crus- hed (same) with the salendro laras. Thus, the mataraman laras is the degung laras 3 = T, meaning that the 3 (na) tone on the ma- taraman laras is the same as the Tugu tone (T) on the salendro laras. The mataraman la- ras, based on Kusumadinata’s theory, is in- cluded in the tri-sound degung laras, so the three tones that hit are 3=Tugu, 4=Loloran, and 1=Galimer. If the surupan principle is applied to the interval structure of the ma- denda laras, then in fact there is still one la- ras that Saepudin, namely the wisaya laras have not mentioned. In Kusumadinata’s theory, it is referred to as the madenda laras 4 = P, or the tone 4 (ti) on the madenda laras is the same as the tone Panelu (P) on the salendro laras. In addition, the authors agree with Saepudin stated above that the degung laras are actually different from the pe- log laras. And this is the misunderstan- ding in the study conducted by Sasaki. Kusumadinata’s intention to use the term pelog, which means degung laras has been interpreted as the pelog laras in the context of Javanese gamelan. However, there are interesting sta- tements made by Sasaki (2019) regarding the use of pelog and salendro in gamelan music. However, in reality, the form of ‘salendro with pelog’ is a rare case. There are also no classical pieces found whose origi- nal melody has a pelog scale. The form of ‘salendro with pelog’ is only found in new compositions or as a variation in the per- formances of pieces whose original melo- dy has a salendro scale. Therefore, it can be assumed that the form of ‘salendro with pe- log’ is a new phenomenon. Sasaki’s statements become interes- ting to study in the development of con- temporary gamelan music. Apart from the debate about the differences in findings in the study of laras (laras), there is an inter- esting phenomenon in the way composers work on contemporary gamelan music. In the view of society in general, ga- melan music is always seen as traditional musical work. This is because, for ordinary people, seeing the aesthetics of the music is always based on the musical instruments used. Of course, we agree that judging from the physical form, the color of the sound, the way of playing, as well as the conception of the laras used in gamelan instruments, there are strong indications of the values of traditional cultural heri- tage. However, in the process of musical creativity, whatever instrument is used is only a medium. What characterizes the aesthetic is how the musical instrument is worked out. Thus, the traditional gamelan instrument is very possible to develop and change aesthetically in new ideas or con- cepts so that it can be called a contempora- ry gamelan work. Hardjana (2004:482) stated that, Ga- melan has the potential to develop further Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 22 (1) (2022): 161-173164 beyond the boundaries of its own cultural nursery. However, it must be freed from its sense of inferiority as just an ethnic cul- ture. The theories must be developed. The concepts need to be updated. In connection with the above opini- on, there are various theories and concepts developed in understanding the pheno- menon of the laras in gamelan music. Sin- dusawarno and Hardjosubroto in Sumar- sam (1995) formulate the form of a chart about the interval relation between pelog, diatonic, and slendro systems, as follows. Figure 1. Sindusawarno interval relation chart In the chart (Figure1), it is very clear that there are two similar tones in the pelog and slendro laras, whereas due to the diffe- rence in the structure of the tone intervals between slendro and pelog, the different tones complement each other, especially when compared with a diatonic structure. Thus, the chart can represent the differen- ce in the tone of the three laras. The difference in the distance bet- ween the notes in gamelan laras often has a psychoacoustic impact. Because every note on some waditra has a different overtone structure, depending on the quality of the material, size, and others. In the research conducted by Risnandar (2018:104) on gamelan tone explains that the embat also determines the characteristics of the laras. Embat arises from setting the pitch and the high and low notes on the gamelan tone. In the Javanese gamelan laras, there are two types of embat: embat prenes and embat luh. The embat issue raised by Risnandar is a phenomenon and an interesting challen- ge for composers in working on gamelan music. Contemporary gamelan composers have made various attempts to question the uniqueness of the laras in each of their compositions. This can be seen in various cases. In a study conducted by Angkasa (2015:44) on the synchronization of eastern and western cultures of Lou Harrison’s work entitled “Concerto for Piano with Javanese Gamelan,” it is explained how the American composer approached and adapted the different laras between game- lan and piano used in this work. In that case, Harisson adjusted the piano notes based on the gamelan laras used. A similar case happened to the band Krakatau from Indonesia. Wallach (2013, p. 121) sugge- sted that based on an analysis of the band’s works, several western musical instru- ments are adjusted to the laras used for the tones of traditional Sundanese gamelan. Meanwhile, there are cases where the opposite occurs to find a solution to the problem of differences in the laras bet- ween western instruments and gamelan. In Ramaer (2004:30), Sinta Wullur, a Dutch composer, stated the problems regarding her artistic concept. Each time I made a composition, I searched for a creation that could carry the identity of Indonesian as well as Western culture. But when I composed for a tradi- tional gamelan orchestra I missed the pos- sibilities of the 12 tones in an octave and felt limited by the tone problems when combining western instruments with the gamelan. To find a solution to this problem, Wullur was inspired by her experience when she visited her friend, a Danish per- cussionist who had ordered a set of Baline- se gamelans with chromatic laras. Based on this, she then ordered a Javanese gamelan with a similar idea which was later called the Multifoon Gamelan. The idea of adapting the diatonic sca- le to the gamelan can also be found in se- veral regions in Indonesia. Yuliana (2013) in her research, suggested that in the de- Iwan Gunawan, et al., The Use of Laras in Contemporary Gamelan Music 165 velopment of gamelan creations, there is a group called “Degung Dedikasi.” This group designed gamelan with a diatonic scale to accompany pop songs with gram- matical tonal music for commercial purpo- ses. Some of the cases presented abo- ve are the ideas of composers who have thought of adjusting the dichotomy of the difference in laras between the well- tempered system and the laras on gamelan instruments. However, among contempo- rary gamelan composers, some composers do not really care about differences in laras in the context of eastern and western cultu- re, but all these differences in laras are used as a vehicle for finding new ideas, name- ly combining various tones. This concept has been implied in traditional gamelan work, especially the gamelan music of pe- log salendro in Sunda. In this case, Suparli (2010, p. 158) argued that …laras contained in the gamelan pelog salendro mean that those that are ma- nifested in the gamelan only consist of two laras, namely laras salendro and laras pelog. Meanwhile, laras degung and laras madenda (sorog) in the context of the ga- melan salendro pelog are only played on vocals, or waditra rebab, using gamelan laras salendro. Suparli’s view is in line with what was stated by Sasaki (2019) that “…there is an interesting phenomenon, that is the fixed pitch instruments of gamelan are in the salendro scale, but its vocal and rebab often modulate into sorog scale or pelog scale.” Based on the principle of combina- tion of laras or scales in traditional Sun- danese gamelan, Kusumadinata in Santo- sa (2016) has formulated the Dasa Nada system based on the salendro tone which consists of five notes with each tone inter- val of 240 cents, and then each interval is divided two to 120 cents, to one gembyang to 10 tones. These various concepts or theories open various possibilities for composers to seek new ideas in gamelan music creativi- ty. For example, one of the composers who focused on working on tone combinations on Balinese gamelan was I Made Arnawa. Arnawa (2010, p. 11) asserted that the idea of his work entitled “Penndro II” is a work that was inspired when reading the book of Prakempa, namely a Balinese gamelan lontar translated by I Made Bandem. In his work, the laras used is a mixture of tones between pelog and slendro tones. Based on the various examples abo- ve, the paradigm of contemporary game- lan music can not only be seen in the con- text of local culture but must be viewed as part of global musical culture in the con- text of mutual influence between cultures and the artists who perform them. Of the many contemporary gamelan composers, some works attract the aut- hors’ attention to be discussed in more de- tail; How do composers make garap of tone system/laras in contemporary gamelan music? METHOD We need an appropriate method to know the concept of garap on a piece of music. The method used is content analy- sis. According to Krippendorf in White et al. (2006), the content analysis method is a research technique to make conclusions that can be replicated and valid from text or other meaningful material within the context of its use. Based on observations of contem- porary gamelan works that have issues regarding the use of a laras that is consi- dered interesting, four works with unique working concepts were selected, namely: (1) Thongkleng by Rahayu Supangga; (2) “Crosscurrent” by Dieter Mack; (3) “Les- son of The Garden – Water Way” by Micha- el O’Neil; and (4) “Noname & Nothing” by Iwan Gunawan. These works were se- lected based on observations and auditive analysis of the garap concept’s uniqueness in the laras. The uniqueness of the selected works is the impression of using a new tone that has never been heard in previous gamelan works. Data were collected through the stu- dy of audio-visual documents and scores Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 22 (1) (2022): 161-173166 for the selected works. Documents and scores were analyzed for parametric mu- sical aspects to determine the concept of garap on the laras/laras. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Limitation of the Number of Tones In describing the analysis process of the four works mentioned above, they can be grouped into two parts based on each composer’s technique of garap. The first ga- rap technique is the technique of limiting the use of tones, as in “Thongkleng” by Rahayu Supanggah and “Crosscurrent” by Dieter Mack. The concept of limiting the tones avai- lable in gamelan has actually been formula- ted by Kusumadinata, especially regarding the application of pelog (Javanese) tones in Sundanese gamelan. Kusumadinata’s the- ory is reaffirmed by Suparli (2010) that, of the seven tones contained in the pelog, only three tones always function as the main notes, namely the tugu, loloran, and galimer tones. The number of tones on the pelog of the Sundanese gamelan is limited to only five tones. Kusumadinata’s theory is kno- wn as “jatuligasopa”, jawar starts from the tone of tugu, liwung starts from galimer, and sorog starts from panelu. In work “Thongkleng,” there are things in the use of tone. From a quick ob- servation, it can be assumed that this work uses a mixture of two laras namely pelog and slendro. This is because there is no st- rong indication of a particular laras to be felt auditively. However, after the authors tried to make a notation transcript of the work, authors were deceived. It turns out that this work only uses the pelog. Is this phenomenon due to the authors’ hearing limitation? Or is there another reason? In general, this work presents a dia- logue about two characteristics of instru- ments with different sound colors due to the material characteristics of the instru- ments, namely the pencon instrument and the bilah instrument. But other than that, the texture of the melody made is very clear about the impression of dialogue. For more details, please see the transcript of the notation below. Figure 2. Excerpt from the work “Thongk- leng”, Transcript by the authors. If we look at the examples of notation above, it can be concluded that the concept of a “sahut-sahutan” melody (question and answer/dialogue) is the basic principle of this work. The concept can be divided into two; First, “sahut-sahutan” alternately, and second, “sahut-sahutan” simultaneously like the kotekan principle in Balinese game- lan. However, the authors’ concern is how to organize the tones. The number of tones used in this work is five tones out of seven (laras pelog). The tones are 6 (nem), 5 (mo), 4 (pat), lu (3), 2 (ro) in the Javanese kepati- han system or 1 (da), 2 (mi), 3- (ni), 3 (na), 4 (ti) in the Sundanese damina system. For more details, please see the example nota- tion below. Note: the tone symbols (numbers) use the Javanese and Sundanese systems Figure 3. The tones used in the work “Thong- kleng” However, the three tones (marked by squares), namely 5, 4, 3 or 2, 3-, 3, are very dominant, while the other tones, na- mely 6 (nem) or 1 (da) and 2 (ro) or 4 ti) sound very rarely. Because the melody swirls in the closely spaced interval regi- on, the impression of the melody feels like floating around for nothing. Furthermore, Iwan Gunawan, et al., The Use of Laras in Contemporary Gamelan Music 167 if we try to play these notes improvised, it will be felt a new tone. This attracted the authors’ attention, that through the work “Thongkleng”, Supanggah as a composer has offered a new technique in working on the existing tones without making new tones. The gamelan used in this work still uses the gamelan laras pelog as the game- lan instruments used in traditional works. Meanwhile, the technique of limiting the number of tones in the work “Cross- current” has a different case. This work uses the Degung gamelan, but auditorily the characteristics of the gamelan tones as in the traditional context can no longer be felt. This is due to the unique and unusual processing of the melody as the Sundanese artists process the melody in the laras. For example, please see the example notation below. Figure 4. Excerpt of Tutti melody in “Cross- current” If we look at the notation above, there is a distinctive interval movement in pro- cessing the melody in the degung laras. The movements of these intervals are small se- conds, large septime, and more quarts. The example of the notation is presented. Figure 5. Analysis of intervals in Tutti melody of “Crosscurrent” The movement of these intervals re- ally colors this section, while other inter- vals are less prominent. In addition, the processing of the melody in this section seems to be horizontal, but because the sound is left long (let ring), certain chords are formed vertically. The chord is like the notation example below. Figure 6. Melody vertically/chords on melody processing “Crosscurrent” In the aesthetics of traditional game- lan music, processing melodies that have the impression of a chord is perceived as a “dissonant” sound, so that in processing the melody, the vertical sound impression is often avoided. The processing of these four tones becomes the basis for various sound pro- cessing in the next section, coupled with the sound colors of gongs and jenglongs which are often played on the side and produce other tones based on the overto- ne structure of the instrument. Thus, the way of beating the waditra gong and jeng- long can auditorily disguise the identity of the conventional degung laras. In addition, interval jumps that are more than one gem- byang (octave) bring a new impression to the technique of processing the melody in the degung laras, because in traditional de- gung laras such extreme interval jumps are rarely found. The musical phenomenon that the authors have mentioned above is a small part of the whole work of “Crosscur- rent” because it is too complex, the authors cannot fully describe it in this paper. Ho- wever, the things that the authors found Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 22 (1) (2022): 161-173168 can at least prove that innovative efforts to work on the laras on the degung gamelan can be done using one of the melodic pro- cessing techniques as Mack did in his work “Crosscurrent.” Expanding the Number of Tones The second technique is to expand the number of tones by combining pelog and slendro tones, as in Michael O’Neil’s “Lesson of Garden” and Iwan Gunawan’s “Noname and Nothing.” In the work “Lesson of Garden,” the laras use a mixture of gamelan with pelog and slendro laras simultaneously. Thus, the mixture of the two laras auditorily produ- ces new laras characteristics. One of the reasons for this is the technique of melo- dy processing which deliberately hides the character of the pelog and slendro laras as in traditional gamelan music. Before going any further, look at an example of the no- tation below. Figure 7. Excerpt of rewards from “Lesson of The Garden-Water Way”. Transcript by Iwan Gunawan If we look at the notation above, we can be sure that the striking pattern in this work generally has the same concept as the striking pattern in traditional gamelan. This can be seen from the slentem striking pattern as the main musical composition (gendhing) of the song and the slendro and pelog beats as an interlocking. However, the concept of interlocking in this work is different from that interlocking of the tra- ditional gamelan style. The difference lies in the “typical” intervals (micro-intervals from a mixture of pelog and slendro laras) and flows so that auditorily builds a new sense of laras. Technically, the interlocking in this work is built in two ways. The first is a me- lody with a static repetition (played by a slendro bilah instrument), and the second is a melody with a progressive repetition (played by a pelog bilah instrument). Thus, the changes in the melody line can be felt differently if the repetition of the melo- dy in the pelog laras makes changes while the beat of the slendro melody continues. Through this technique, the texture of the melody can be felt to have a distinctive in- terval jump. After the writer conducts further analysis, there are certainly similarities between the interlocking described above and the melodic contours of Steve Reich’s “Piano Phase”. The texture of the melody is like the notation example below. Figure 8. An example of a melody contour “Piano Phase” by Steve Reich. Transcript by Iwan Gunawan The similarity of the interlocking concept with the work “Lesson of The Gar- den-Water Way” can be seen in the follo- wing example of the notation. Figure 9. The melodic texture section of the work “Lesson of The Garden- Water Way.” Transcript by Iwan Gunawan However, there are fundamental dif- ferences between these two works. In the work “Piano Phase,” the change in melody texture is principally due to tempo pro- cessing, while in the work “Lesson of The Garden” the change in melody texture is Iwan Gunawan, et al., The Use of Laras in Contemporary Gamelan Music 169 caused by processing the notes themselves (based on micro intervals) which are a mix- ture of slendro and pelog laras. Regardless of the relationship between the two works, what Michael O’Neil did in his work “Les- son of The Garden” has the issue of offe- ring a new concept in gamelan music. The three examples of works above are examples of cases that, in the authors’ opinion, are works that can prove efforts to innovate the laras in gamelan music. Many composers still carry out similar work con- cepts but produce very different works, including works by composers I Made Arnawa and Wayne Vitale using Balinese gamelan. All the works mentioned are a source of reference and inspiration for wri- ters in the creative process of creating new works. Meanwhile, the work “Noname and Nothing” has a similar idea: combining pe- log and slendro laras. However, the techni- que of treatment is very different. In this section, the authors would like to briefly describe the authors’ own efforts in working on the laras in gamelan. The authors present the result of studies and observations made some time ago re- garding the phenomenon of the laras, espe- cially the laras/scales on Sundanese kara- witan. From these experiences, the authors found a laras that was applied to our own work entitled “Noname and Nothing”. However, before discussing the work, the authors would like to convey the chronolo- gy and the framework as the basis for the emergence of the idea of the garap concept on the laras in the work. In addition to making observations about the phenomenon of the laras in the context of Sundanese culture, the authors also have the experience of learning about the laras in the context of Western culture, especially about the modal, tonal, and tonal systems. Based on this experience, some things really attract the authors’ attenti- on, especially the phenomenon of Western music that has occurred from the early 20th century until now. Various musical phenomena in the dodecaphony or seria- lism systems in the works of Schonberg, Webern, Ligeti, Stockhausen, and others to the concept of “preferred piano” from John Cage greatly give a discourse on the creative process of authors in creating ga- melan and non-gamelan music. One thing that the authors have seen and realized as a result of observing several works by the- se Western composers is the creation of the concept of a laras on the bonang and rincik instruments (bonang panerus) in the works “Fonem” and “Nyurup” (2005). The laras on the instrument is a mixture of pencon laras pelog and slendro arranged randomly based on the high and low of the sound. For clarity, please see the image below. Note: tone symbols (numbers) using the Sun- danese system (damina) Figure 10. The laras of the Bonang and Rincik instrument in the work “Fonem” From the arrangement of pencon bo- nang and rincik as shown above, the order of the tones is no longer arranged linearly (from lower to higher notes or vice ver- sa) but arranged randomly. Thus, even though in the notation system, it seems that the notes are moving in steps, the no- tes are jumping auditorily. The next thing, the authors are interested in the micro in- terval difference between 3 pelog notes with 3 slendro notes and 4 pelog notes with 4 slendro notes. This phenomenon of micro-interval differences is also seen in the laras of Balinese gamelan, including the pangumbang-pangisep. It is just that in the work of “Fonem” this aspect is not pre- sented vertically (as in Balinese gamelan) but horizontally. For clarity, please see the example notation below. Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 22 (1) (2022): 161-173170 Figure 11. The example of bonang and rincik melodies in the work “Fonem” Through the concept of the laras on the bonang/rincik instruments as descri- bed above, it can be said that the way of playing the melodic texture on the bo- nang/rincik instrument in the work of “Fonem” is technically the same as play- ing the traditional gamelan, but the sound is very different. This became the authors’ starting point in developing the laras in their subsequent gamelan works. When one of the authors was com- missioned to arrange Steve Reich’s “Six Marimbas” for the International Gamelan Festival Amsterdam in 2010, he was con- fused when he adapted the laras used. The problem is that in the work “Six Marim- bas” the laras use a “well-tempered” sys- tem while the laras in gamelan is not. Va- rious attempts and experiments have been carried out by the author to find solutions to these problems. The results of these ef- forts include the author finding a 10-laras from a mixture of pelog and slendro laras. And this is following the theory formu- lated by Sindusawarno in the description above. The following is a sequence of 10 tones that became the author’s basic con- cept in working on gamelan music with a slendro pelog laras. Gamelan Slendro Pelog Tumbuk nem Dasa Nada from a mixture of Gamelan Laras Pelog Slendro Note: number notation using Javanese and Sundanese karawitan systems Figure 12. Tones in the Dasa Nada system The explanation above can be con- cluded that there are four tones, namely “5/1”, “4/2”, “3/3”, and “2/5”. In terms of the use of symbols and terms for both pelog and slendro laras, they are always the same, but the sounds are actually diffe- rent. For the comparison of the pelog and slendro sounds on the notes “5/1” and “2/5” the difference is very clear. While the other two tones, namely the tone “2/4” and “3/3” when compared the sound bet- ween the pelog and slendro laras have very slight differences due to the micro- interval aspect. The author’s two experiences in wor- king on the work of “Fonem” and the ar- rangement of “Six Marimbas” as described above, coupled with various references to contemporary music from Western com- posers, resulting in a new work entitled “Noname and Nothing”. The application of the Dasa Nada system in this work will be described in detail. The work “Noname and Nothing” uses instruments with configurations, na- mely, Saron and Peking slendro, Saron and Peking pelog, demung and slentem slendro, de- mung, and slentem pelog, bonang “Eusleum” (a mixture of pencon pelog and slendro), gong slendro, and Kendang and kulanter. The initial idea for this work came when the author watched Brian Ferneyhough’s “Bone Alphabet” on You- Tube. This work uses a variety of percussi- on instruments played by one person. The percussion instruments that do not have a laras move randomly but the high and low sounds of these instruments compositio- nally make the impression of a certain laras (although this impression is very difficult to describe). In general terms, it can be said that a laras used in musical works such as major, minor, pelog, degung, slendro, dori- an, and so on, always brings a certain im- pression/atmosphere. Therefore, in the process of interpretation, musical works that use the laras will be easier to interpret than musical works that do not have a la- ras. This phenomenon occurred when the author heard the music “Bone Alphabet” by Brian Ferneyhough. When the author Iwan Gunawan, et al., The Use of Laras in Contemporary Gamelan Music 171 first heard the work, it was a bit difficult to accept it psychologically, but after hearing it over and over and trying to understand this work, he finally found interesting things. That is the initial motivation of the author in working on the work “Noname and Nothing”. In the work “Noname and Nothing,” the nine-laras used are arranged in such a way that it has a variety of sound textu- res, ranging from melodic, to percussive sounds, both horizontally and vertically. To make it clearer, please see an examp- le of notation from the beginning of this work in Figure 13. Figure 13. The beginning of the work “Non- ame and Nothing” with gamelan slendro pelog tumbuk A If we look at the notation above (espe- cially the beginning), each striking instru- ment has an independent melodic texture. In this section, the beats on each instru- ment are not related to each other except at the end of the melodic sentence which emphasizes the difference in the sound of the tone “3 (na/lu) between the waditra with the laras pelog and the waditra with the laras slendro. Another aspect is that the pitch is far and random, and the arti- culation of long and short notes gives the impression of a more percussive sound. In the next section, the sound texture can be divided into two parts, namely the melody and the chord. The melodic part of the bo- nang instrument still presents the impres- sion of a “random” melody because of the concept of the laras. Meanwhile, the chords played by the gong, demung, and saron/pe- king seem to respond to the bonang melo- dy with vertical and dissonant tones. Another thing that will be descri- bed in this work is tone processing at the end. In this section, almost all instruments play short sounds to produce a percussive sound and avoid a melodic impression. In addition, the dialogue tone “2 (ro)/4 (ti)” and “3 (lu)/3 (na)” from the two tones is very dominant, to question the micro-in- terval differences between the two tones. For clarity, please see the example notation in Figure 14. Figure 14. The texture of the percussive sound at the end of the work “Noname and Noth- ing” The garap concept of the dasa nada system in this work is based on music pro- cessing, including 1) creating a melodic texture with a random impression based on the high and low of the sound, the du- ration of the sound, and the sound color of the instrument used, 2) processing the ho- rizontal and vertical tones, 3) considering the micro-interval tones, 3) creating “per- cussive” sounds from the configuration of Harmonia: Journal of Arts Research and Education 22 (1) (2022): 161-173172 the instrument and the laras used. CONCLUSION The results of the analysis process can be concluded that there are two direc- tions of garap of the composers in using the tone system (laras) in gamelan mu- sic, namely limiting the number of tones, and expanding the number of tones. The- se two things are done to specifically af- fect the characteristics, characters, embat, and emotions of the contemporary music produced. In Supanggah’s work, laras pe- log, which has seven tones, only uses five tones, while in Mack’s, the five-tone laras degung, only four tones are used. Meanw- hile, in the works of O’Neil and Gunawan, they use a “chromatic” approach based on a mix of 10 tones of pelog and slendro laras. In developing the aesthetics of game- lan music, the use and processing of tones with techniques that limit the use of tones can produce the impression of a new tone even though using a conventional tone. The analysis of the four works in this stu- dy is only a case or phenomenon of com- positional techniques that focus on the use of laras in gamelan music. To understand more deeply the uniqueness of the four works, further research is still needed to obtain a more detailed picture of musical concepts and phenomena. However, this paper can inspire other composers to work on contemporary gamelan music. REFERENCES Angkasa, L. (2012). 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