Tabuh Telu Tabanan

Dublin Core

Title

Tabuh Telu Tabanan

Subject

Composition

Description

Tabuh Telu Tabanan is an instrumental piece for gamelan gong kebyar. It is performed by the resident ensemble at the Yayasan Polosenni School located in one of the important cultural centers on the island of Bali. Douglas Myers is the school director, Made Sukanda is music director for this performance.

Tabuh Telu is a compositional form. The simplest English translation of this title is: “a music composition in three parts” (or sections). I encountered several different Tabuh Telu compositions during my studies at the Yayasan Polosenni School. It was also confusing to me to discover that a Tabuh Telu can be varied depending on the gamelan director or the village which may have it’s own version. Douglas Myers, director of the Yayasan Polosenni School, refers to the tabuh telu as a genre rather than one specific composition. This genre is commonly associated with religious or temple ceremonies rather than staged performances for tourists or for arts festivals.

Made Sukanda, music director of this project and Mr. Myers, provide this additional information about the genre. “There are many tabuh telu in Bali.” One published book of Balinese gamelan repertoire contains 15 individual tabuh telu compositions. As a way of identifying the  Tabuh Telu that is also a part of the Miami University Gamelan Library, Made suggests the title, Tabuh Telu Tabanan.

Made Sukanda learned Tabuh Telu Tabanan from his grandfather, Made Lebah. Lebah brought the piece from the Tabanan region to his gamelan musicians in the Peliatan area in 1931. The piece is still played today in this region of Bali but probably not in Tabanan.

Collection Items

In this clip the music director of the project, Made Sukanda, performs the primary melody for Tabuh Telu Tabanan on one of the primary melodic instruments in a gamelan gong kebyar orchestra. Note that Made uses only one mallet, called a pangul. His…

In this clip Made Sukanda again performs the primary melody, the polos part. As he plays the melody he gives verbal cues for the large gong, the gong gede. The gong gede defines the beat structure for the composition. This function is similar to the…

In this clip Made Sukanda performs the contrasting melody part, referred to as the sangsih. The polos and Sangsih melodies differ in two important ways. First, these two contrasting melodies form an interlocking rhythm structure. The Polos melody…

In this clip Made performs the polos part and I perform the sangsih. We are using the reverse side of the mallets to reduce the volume and to assist with the recording fidelity. This of course is not the correct method for striking the bars in a…

In this clip Made performs the Kenyur, the most active supporting part. I am playing the primary melody. We are again using the reverse side of the mallets to reduce the volume and to assist with the recording fidelity. The kenyur part is similar to…

In this clip Made performs the Jublag part while I play the primary melody. We are again using the reverse side of the mallets to reduce the volume and to assist with the recording fidelity. The Jublag supports only the notes of the primary melody.…

In this clip Made rehearses a reyong section of the gamelan orchestra. The reyong is an instrument comprised of 12 tuned gongs. Four performers share the instrument. The parts create a series of interlocking rhythmic and melodic relationships that…

The interlocking rhythms and melodic parts performed by the four, reyong performers is determined by an underlying skeletal melody called the pekok. This melody is embellished by the jalan-jalan which is the basis for the reyong. In this clip Made…

In this clip Made demonstrates the various reyong patterns. I am playing the pekok, the skeletal melody. This is a typical rehearsal session. Refer to the notated manuscript for further clarification.

In this clip Made performs the tromping part.
View all 18 items