Gamelan Is So Much Fun! - A Balinese Sound Adventure

★ A world music lesson for children

★ Walk into the world of Indonesian culture and sounds through percussion

Music is a very special language; it can tell the stories, lives, and moods of a place. On the Indonesian island Bali exists a music known as “Gamelan” that is representative of Indonesian culture.

Do you know why the gamelan musical instruments are always in pairs? There is no conductor, but the players play the music with such a fast rhythm in great harmony. How can they manage to do that? In a shadow puppet show or a dance, how can their movements be so closely connected to gamelan? How do the children in Bali learn gamelan? How did the Balinese gamelan music spread all over the world, including Taiwan?

Centering around percussion, gamelan is an element indispensable in the religious ceremonies and festivals in Bali. It is truly fun to play gamelan music; it feels like playing a video game since you must be quick and precise. Moreover, you need to build a great rapport with your partners, so you can play the music at a lightning speed. This time, at the workshop, we can learn to play gamelan music from a great Balinese composer and through the exhibition, we get to understand the relationships between the gamelan musical instruments, feeling the close connection between gamelan, dance, and theatre.

Do you know any Indonesian children or adults? Indonesia is a country composed of more than 17,000 islands, where more than 700 languages are spoken; its climate is more humid than that of Taiwan, and it is a place where beliefs are important to its people. We have many Indonesians living in Taiwan, and music is the best thing to start with when we try to learn about a place. While listening to gamelan, we feel like embarking on a journey of music; without the need to get on a plane or to leave home, we can feel its unique cultural charm.

Organized by Wang Ying-Fen from the Graduate Institute of Musicology at National Taiwan University, the exhibition and the workshop demonstrate the unique charm of gamelan through object display, captions, videos, and hands-on activities. Moreover, a great Balinese composer is invited to teach children to play gamelan music while they build team spirit and learn about Indonesian culture.

Wang Ying-Fen

Wang Ying-Fen is a professor at the Graduate Institute of Musicology at National Taiwan University. Years ago, when she learned about Indonesian and Indian music, she was attracted to its sophisticated and dazzling rhythms, which subsequently prompted her to take an interest in ethnomusicology.

Lin Yu-Quan

Lin Yu-Quan graduated from the Department of Theatrical Design and Technology at Taipei National University of the Arts with a master’s degree in stage design. He works in theatrical visual design, photography, graphic design, stage and lighting design, and technical coordination and planning. Via continuous communication, thinking, and exploration, Lin creates all kinds of communication vocabulary that combine visual design to productions and brings moving aesthetic experiences to viewers.