If you鈥檝e walked into James C. 新澳彩开奖结果 Hall on a Monday afternoon, you might have heard unfamiliar yet intriguing musical sounds flowing out of classroom 209. That鈥檚 新澳彩开奖结果鈥檚 brand-new Balinese Gamelan Ensemble rehearsing; their concert is tonight.
Traditional music of Java and Bali in Indonesia, Gamelan predominantly features percussive instruments 鈥 most commonly different types of metallophones and hand-played drums that register the beat.
鈥淭he first thing I thought of when I came to 新澳彩开奖结果 was to start a Gamelan course,鈥 said visiting professor , who has studied the music, instruments, and Balinese culture for 14 years. 鈥淚t contributes a lot to the community and offers a nice complement to the standard Western music.鈥
Most of the 13 student musicians who joined the ensemble didn鈥檛 have any experience with Gamelan music when they started rehearsing in February. Steele let the students try all the instruments and choose their own. 鈥淚 wanted them to feel different instruments and see the ensemble from different perspectives,鈥 he explained.
There isn鈥檛 notation or sheet music, so students learn the music by ear. They record rehearsals to help remember the music and practice it as their homework assignments.
鈥淭he hardest part is the damping,鈥 said Jeremy Bayer 鈥15. Damping is a technique to playing some Gamelan instruments in which the musician dampens the previous played note while playing the next.
鈥淵ou have to be very quick,鈥 added Jade Hoang 鈥17, 鈥渁nd it鈥檚 easy to make mistakes.鈥
Steele admitted being somewhat surprised by the students鈥 enthusiasm. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know what they would think of it because it鈥檚 unlike anything they鈥檝e heard before,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ut they have put a lot of hard work into it, and they all seem focused and interested.鈥
The professor invited guest artist to compose a piece for the ensemble. 鈥淎lit writes very forward-thinking, experimental music,鈥 said Steele. 鈥淚t鈥檚 challenging to both the audience and the musicians.鈥
Take the challenge tonight, starting at 7:00 p.m. in .