This is a typical piece of dance music played by a Gamelan ensemble in the village of Peliatan in the center of Bali, the island immediately east of Java. As you can hear, this style of gamelan is worlds away from the slow, quiet, contemplative gamelan of central Java. The gong ageng that is struck once every ten minutes in long Javanese gamelan pieces here occurs every eight beats, accentuating the short gong cycles and adding to the energy evoked by the rapid, buzzing gangsa instruments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dtF9v7MNtM
"Kebyar", meaning 'flowering' or 'explosion', refers to the large sound ("byar") produced by all the instrumentalists in the ensemble playing at once. This style of music originated in the north of Bali around the turn of the 20th century, descended from older sacred music forms. This exciting new form of music took the island by storm, and many villages melted down the metal from their older gamelan sets to create new Gong Kebyar sets.
Today, this music is synonymous with Balinese performing arts, and once a year, the best groups from around the island converge on the capital city of Denpasar for the Bali Arts Festival for Gong Kebyar competitions and showcases of traditional and contemporary musics from all over Indonesia. I was able to attend several Gong Kebyar competitions while in Bali, of all-male, co-ed, and all-female Gong Kebyar groups. The venue is a large Greek-style outdoor amphitheater with bench seating; vendors selling Quail eggs, small fried snacks ("gorengan"), and grilled chicken skewers mill about the packed venue throughout the performance. See a performance from this year's arts festival here:
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