Discovery Firm has released Indonesia - The Magic, a new sample CD in ACID, WAV, REX2, Kontakt, Battery and MachFive formats. It was produced and supervised by Makoto Kubota and aims to capture the musical magic of Java and Bali. It features:
Percussion & Percussion Instruments
- Jegog Ensemble: a form of gamelan music played on instruments made of bamboo. The music is very fast, loud, rhythmic and precise, and pieces last from a few minutes to as long as 30 minutes. Jegog Ensemble consists of 14 instruments having eight bamboo keys each. From the front row, there are three Barangan, three Kancil, two Celuluk, three Suir, two Undir, and a Jegog.
- Jegog: The lowest instrument in a Jegog Ensemble is also called a Jegog. The instrument is so large, and the mallets are so heavy that it takes two people to play it. The keys of Jegog are as long as 3 meters in length and a pitch as low as 60 hertz.
- Gamelan: Indonesian music ensemble consisted of metallophones, xylophones, drums, and gongs.
- Gendang: A set of drums which is similar to sounds and features of Tabla.
- Rindik: A bamboo melodic instrument which is similar to a xylophone.
- Saron: One of Gamelan instruments consisting of a set of metal bars laid out in a single row and struck like a glockenspiel. A glockenspiel with bronze bar struck with wooden mallet.
- Kendang: A leading instrument which is double ended drum beaten by hands. There are five different sizes of Kendang from 20 to 45 cm.
- Anklung: Bamboo Bell. A wooden percussion instrument made from bamboo pipes of differing length and pitch. These are fixed loosely to a small wooden frame and shaken to produce a tremolo. One group can consist of between 20 - 160 people.
Stringed Instruments
- Rubab: A two-stringed fiddle which has an almost heart-shaped body made of wood.
Wind Instruments
- Suling: A bamboo flute. A notch is cut into the side of the top end, and this top end is surrounded by a rattan of bamboo ring, leaving a small slit where the player will put his mouth.
VOICE
- Sengak: Indonesian traditional voice percussion which is similar to Kecak. Highly dynamic, rhythmic chant.
Indonesia - The Magic is available on CD and costs $55.
