079 Kethuk Slendro BonangMalletWoodenSide Hardest

Description

One of (usually) two small horizontally suspended gongs, The kethuk subdivides the melodic flow of gendhing into shorter musical phrases. In fast moving styles of kethuk playing (sampak, srepegan, ayak-ayakan, and lancaran pieces), the kethuk plays between the balungan beats (i.e., off-beat). This pairing results in a rapid interlocking pattern. In sléndro the kethuk is tuned to 2 (gulu), and the kempyang is tuned to 1 (barang). In pélog, the kethuk is tuned to 6 (nem), and the kempyang is tuned to high 6 (two octaves above the kethuk). Unique to RBI's gamelan set, the kempyang appears to be tuned to the 6 of the bonang slendro of this set and the kethuk as well, but in far lower octave. The fundamental frequency is separated by around 4 octaves (the kempyang is four times higher than the kethuk). In practice one does not call the name of the note, but simply "tuk" or "pyang", noted as ‘-’ and ‘+’, respectively.