the gamelon lesson

i was walking to mithas house at 4 in the afternoon yesterday and suddenly i saw how the sunshine was shining down through the trees. whenever i see sunshine so clearly like that i always imagine that that is how love, knowledge, and god are; everywhere, regardless of what it is touching, it just is, filling up the space that it is given. after photographing it i continued to mithas where she was going to take me to her fathers friend who plays the gamelon chimes and was willing to teach me. i had originally wanted to be in the womens temple orchestra like last time, but there isn't one that meets regularly here in tejakula, so i reluctantly agreed to go for a private lesson, not really wanting to pay for it, or to just play alone, since being with another 21 women is very powerful!, especially in the temple.



young 13 year old mitha hopped on her motorbike along with her little sister standing in the front and me in the back and off we went. the song "over the meadow and through the woods to grandfathers house we go..." played through my mind as she managed on the narrow bumpy road through the banana, coconut, mango, and avocado trees for about 15 minutes until we reached a big house and drove into the backyard. there a fit 40 year old balinese man wearing a red sleeveless t-shirt and jeans smiled and motioned to the cement porch. he quickly spread out a red carpet that he had folded on the side. it made me laugh, since it was full of holes and stains...but i saw that for him it was the act and the intention, and whether or not it was new and clean was irrelevant. he gestured that we sit down on it. i had brought my bamboo onkelon, in hopes that he would also know how to play that and could play a few tunes which i could tape and then practice on at home. he proceeded to take out of his storage room a dusty gamelon, gong, 2 big congo drums and another small gamelon. he placed them all on the red carpet, and then i understood, that when you play, it is a sacred space and you don't just do it anywhere, you do it on the red carpet. he asked me to play something on the onkelon. i did, feeling confident and capable. he did not speak any english, so mitha was our translator.

i explained to her that what interests me is to play temple songs on the gamelon, so lets focus on that. instead, he came over to the onkelon and tried picking out a tune on it, unsuccessfully, i repeated my request, that what is important to me is to play the gamelon, and that if he happens to know some tunes on the onkelon, all well and good, but if he doesn't then lets just play the gamelon. i started having my doubts as to what kind of musician he actually was....


then he went over to the gamelon and played a simple tune over and over. i sat opposite him, and knew i needed every gram of attention that i could possible possess in order to know which chimes he was hitting, in what sequence and what the rhythm was. it was a combination of western and eastern mind. western; quickly counting how many chimes on either side so i would know which ones he was hitting with the little wooden hammer, but also eastern; just being there, and letting all my senses just take it in. there is no written music, just demonstrating and then you trying. i watched like a hawk, then he invited me to sit down and try. i was able to repeat what he had shown me. and within a few minutes he had already sat down ready to play the congo drum along with a 14 year old boy on the other one, and a 70 year old man on the little gong and we were suddenly a little ensemble! it would have been nice to be able to communicate with him with words, but, alas, my indonesian is not good enough yet, and neither is his english, so even though he would say a few sentences, mitha would translate a few words, and the rest i guessed.

it was wonderful playing together. the only variation on the theme is faster or slower or louder or softer, and you just keep on playing it over and over again, and he is the leader and i have to just watch him while i am playing for the cues. as soon as we were playing all together, i was filled with such joy, like water to a thirsty person. the feeling of unity and connection and the soothing repetitiveness of it together with the intensity and liveliness of it all was great. at one point i noticed that the yard was now full of people that came from the area, to see and listen to us playing; men, women and children. when we finished, i noticed that mithas father had also joined us along with a man in a sarong who sat down and took one of the big congo drums. her father was surprised to hear me playing and commented " eileen, you are more clever than i thought!" and i laughed and said "yes, i am very clever!"

the teacher and the man in the sarong decided to play together too, and the 14 year old accompanied them on the gong. even though it is just hitting it every few seconds, it is not easy to do that for 20 minutes straight at a constant speed. the two men were playing a very old melody that could be compared with a symphony, that just went on and on with twists and turns. the drums play a kind of conversation at top speed with one being the male and the other the female, answering with one hand holding a drumstick and the other side of the drum is beat with the hand. it was wonderful watching this duet between them, the intensity and the connection as they sang along with the beat.

i don't understand music, i just know that this strong powerful loud drumming music goes right into me. very direct. each time they finished their song, we again played the one he had taught me. the man in the sarong watched and then asked me to play the gamelon alone. after i did, he came over and ever so gently he took the little hammer from me and played out the tune sitting opposite me. each time that you hit the hammer on the next chime, you must grab the chime you have just hit so that it no longer will echo, allowing the next chime to ring clear, so one hand is hitting while the other hand is following along grabbing the chime that was just hit, so in fact both hands are" playing" different notes at the same time. at first when he played my little tune i just looked at his hands as he played, wondering what he wanted to show me, and then there was a sudden understanding that this very quiet, conscious movement he is doing with the other hand to stop the vibration is just as important as hammering out the tune. i loved the way all this was taught and understood without any words or pantomimes...just his intention and my reception. he then handed the hammer back to me and motioned that i try again, which i did, having learnt the new skill he showed me so kindly, and he gave me the thumbs up and we played it again a few times, and then, again, the two of them. i realized that all i have to do is sit there and trust that everything is perfectly planned, and just to follow his cues. after 2 hours we stopped and he said that i can come back again. that i have picked it up very quickly, and that i played very well. it was nice to receive a compliment, but at the same time i thought "oh, just wait until it gets a little more complicated, and then i will be lost!'...

he said i can come back whenever i want. "whenever i want?! i want everyday!" and he said, fine, and laughed. he said that whenever he is around i am welcome to come, but in another couple of days there are 5 days of ceremonies and he will be busy because he and the man in the sarong are in the temple orchestra and will be busy rehearsing and playing. so we planned today and tomorrow to advance.

mitha and i hopped back onto the motorbike, and i told him "simpai besok" ("see you tomorrow" which i had just learnt the day before with my studies) and we laughed. mitha again drove through the forest in the dusk, and asked me "did you enjoy?" " did i enjoy?! it was fantastic! it was everything i could have ever wanted! thank you so much!" and as she drove me back i realized i just need time now to let all of this settle. this was a very full experience, taking me off into never never land. i told her that she should stop at her house and i will walk back from there, because i just felt i needed time to process what i had just been through. she said it is dark now and that she will take me home (which is a few minutes past her house) i said no. guess who won....when i saw she passed her house at full speed i laughed and said " i should know by now not to contradict you, because you always do what you want in the end" " it is dark now and you are dear to me, so i must take you home". thank you mitha.

when i got back to the resort, there was another 15 minutes until dinner. i sat down on the sofa, opposite the sea, and just gazed into space. what had i just been through? no words. just letting it all sink in, all of this music, all the impressions, these men that are so talented, this music with its incomprehensible rhythms and melodies, the feeling of togetherness, and how it all just has to now settle somewhere in my body. suddenly the old temple melodies that i had learned 4 months ago came to mind! from where did they appear?! and i just continued gazing into space...grateful and wondering "was i once a gamelon player in a temple?" in a different incarnation? why do i have such a strong pull and satisfaction and talent for this? nicole and jochan eventually walked over to me, surprised to see me gazing into space...they have never seen me not doing something! "what are you doing?" "relaxing!"" how was the gamelon lesson?" "amazing". thank you