over bamboo resonators. Other instruments of the gamelan angklung include a
horizontally mounted row of knobbed gongs, two drums, a small pair of cymbals,
bamboo flute, a small vertically suspended gong, and a small horizontally mounted
gong used for time-keeping (Tenzer 1991:86). In Bali, the angklung ensemble
traditionally performs at temple ceremonies, processions, cremations, and village
festivals.^8 It is one of three theoretically required ceremonial gamelan in village ritual
life (along with the larger gamelan gong and the processional orchestra gamelan
beleganjur) (McPhee 1966; Bakan 1999:11). In Northern California, gamelan
angklung Anak Swarasanti rehearses weekly and performs regularly in the Santa
Cruz community. Most of the group’s performances are purely for entertainment
(e.g. summer music festivals, college performances, and local garden parties). In
November 2002 the group performed at a Santa Cruz benefit for the Balinese
victims of the October 2002 terrorist bombing in Kuta, Bali. The Anak Swarasanti
website includes descriptions and photos of its various performance venues. The
gamelan’s all-Western membership is mixed in gender (three females, seven males)
and age (24–60). Members are either working professionals (most are in the high-
tech industry) or university students. Repertoire includes traditional and
contemporary compositions for gamelan.
Compositions for gamelan angklung are cyclical in form and thereby variable in
performance length. At raves, where Anak Swarasanti is normally expected to play a
set several hours long, the group collectively arranges extended versions of traditional
ceremonial pieces. Anak always performs in what is known as the ambient space. This
is a room or space set apart from the main dance location(s) where ravers can come
at any point during the evening to “chill out,” or take a breather from the more
extreme goings-on at the event. Although some dancing does take place here, people
usually use the space to be still. There are often mattresses to lie on or rugs to sit on.
Music in the ambient space is generally calmer, quieter, may be rhythmic or non-
rhythmic, and is meant to function in an atmospheric way.
The gamelan, with its seamless, minimalist, and repetitively structured sounds,
fits well into this scheme. However, its presentation is almost always mediated by
the addition of a layer of electronically produced music added to the texture. This is
not meant to be a simple overlay of synthesized music contributing to the ethereal
soundscape, but an interactive relationship between electronic musicians and the
gamelan. This syncretic ideal is illustrated by the following email excerpt authored
by a member of Anak Swarasanti planning the group’s appearance at a rave in the
spring of 2000:
Use more of the big gongs. For example: have the gongs match beats with the
dj, phase the dj out, bring in the gamelan, and reverse that at the end of the
gamelan set. Possibly even keep the gongs (in different varieties)
playing continuously between songs, so there is no silence. Participation (like
dancing or meditation) is much easier with continued sound.
(email by a member of Anak Swarasanti, spring 2000)GAMELAN AND TECHNO-PRIMITIVISM IN SAN FRANCISCO 199