Klarinet Archive - Posting 000048.txt from 1995/08

From: Lisa Clayton <clayton@-----.EDU>
Subj: Gender Wayang
Date: Thu, 3 Aug 1995 12:08:04 -0400

>oug C.
> I don't think "gender wayang" means an instrument. It may be a type of
ensemble
>r a method of playing. Genders come in three types, it seems: gender penarus,
>gender barung, and slentem. (LOts of even more boring Javanese-type information
> now available from this source, i.e., me ...). They have metal bars with
>resonators, as compared with the saron, which has metal bars domed in the
>middle, and no resonators. The gender bars are so resonant that they need
>damping as part of normal playing technique.

I called a colleague here who is a member of Berkeley's Gamelan Sekar
Jaya, Susanna Miller. According to her, "Gender" is an instrument consisting
of four mettalophones over bamboo resonators, played with both hands.
"Wayang" is a type of Indonesian shadow puppetry, where you can view the
performance from either in front of, or behind, the puppeteer. She
described it as an incredibly beautiful art form. "Gender Wayang", then,
is the music that is played during the performance. She mentioned that
there will be a wonderful Wayang performer coming to the Asian Art Museum
this fall, and that he's wonderful and very funny. Alas, I don't have the
name handy.

Gamelan Sekar Jaya is a wonderful traditional Balinese gamelan orchestra.
They have toured all over and just recently returned from performing
and studying in the Indonesia area. They have a web page at Well
(http://www.well.com) and are well worth hearing if you get the chance
to go to one of their concerts. She also mentioned a former Gamelan member
who is a professor of music at MIT and a clarinetist besides, a Dr. Evan
Ziporyn.

As for "gender", the English word, (Indonesian "Gender" is pronounced with
a hard G, btw) Susanna also said that there are a lot more women in Bali
and Java taking up the instrument, so integration is not just a Western
phenomena anymore. And, in an interesting parallel to our discussion, she
mentioned that there were certain instruments that were more "acceptible"
for women than others-- the Gender being one of them.

____ Lisa K. Canjura-Clayton The obligatory homepage:
/ clayton@-----.edu/~clayton
/ Band=Life COMING SOON: Virtual Barstow!
"There is nothing more onanistic than playing the bass clarinet by yourself"
-Steve Trier