Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

interesting..... its called gamelan but a gamelan is also an instrument? what is a gamelan? A drum of some sort I guess.... (or did you already explain this?)

'Gamelan' means the entire set of instruments and the players collectively...sort of like our term 'orchestra', but the name comes from a Sanskrit word, 'megambel', which means 'to hammer'...

Is there any web site where I could hear a little clip? (not necessarily your group, but that would be great too)

Sorry Kent, I was away for a couple days...putting down a new wood floor at my gamelan guru's house...Our website address is: http://www.tunasmekar.org ...Also, check out Gamelan Sekar Jaya in San Francisco (sorry, I don't have their website for you, but a quick search on their name will bring it up). They have been in existence since the early seventies...most of the notables in American gamelan have played in that group. And one of their alumni is a player members of this forum might have heard of: Johnny Vatos, the drummer for Oingo Boingo...

Interesting... what does "Tunas Mekar" mean?

Sorry for the delay...very busy weekend. We played the first of two gigs as part of the International Fringe Festival in Boulder. The second is next Saturday at 3 p.m. Our venue is the Boulder High School auditorium, which is one of the best rooms in Boulder...the sound in there is huge. We played un-mic'ed...got a mini-disc recording from the stage; levels are a little uneven, but we'll try it again next weekend.

If you happen to be in Boulder, come see the show. It's twelve bucks at the door, but come around to the loading dock on the teachers' parking lot side at 2:30 and I'll sneak you in for free.

Our name was given to us by our first Balinese teacher, Ketut Madri, of Pengesekan. "Tunas" means a seed or flower bud, and "Mekar" means to open or bloom.

>>>International Fringe Festival in Boulder

LOL (good naturedly)... that's gotta be a classic!

>>>Our venue is the Boulder High School auditorium

Speaking of auditoriums, when I was a kid in NYC, Radio City Music Hall was the largest stage aduitorium in the city (and may still be). What was #2? The auditorium at Brooklyn Tech HS (where I went to school). Freekin big, but so was the school.

Dane, I just listened to "Panyembrama"... whew! I wont shuck'n'jive ya and say I really liked it but it was interesting and obviously took a lot of prep and rehearsal. A far cry from rock'n'roll, thats for sure.

What other stuff did they have at the "Fringe Festival"?

Lots of wierdness, some of it cool, I'm sure...it runs all this week and ends Saturday night. These festivals are held around the world; I think it started in Edinburgh, but I'm not sure. Seems to be primarily a Theater and Dance thing, with Music and Art represented to a lesser extent. There were two jugglers from L.A. right before us...unbelievable, especially the chainsaw work. Right after us was a burlesque review...the scantily clad girls were milling about in the parking lot while we moved a ton of wood and bronze off the stage. Apparently some of the parents of students at BHS had caught wind of this particular act being scheduled in the school's auditorium and had announced their intention to protest the show, but we didn't see any sign of them. Didn't get to see the Burlesque either; had to load the truck.

Boulder is it's own planet...it's all tie-dyed this and herbal that on the surface. Then you begin to find things out...like Soldier Of Fortune is published there...

I think the acronym NIMBY was invented in Boulder...

>>> while we moved a ton of wood and bronze off the stage.

hmmm... hadn't thought of that. I bet Gamelan is pretty equipment/setup intensive which is something I'm sensitive to. All that equipment is great in theory but when you're the one humping it in and out of little clubs you begin to realize that "less is more".

>>>> it's all tie-dyed this and herbal that on the surface. Then you begin to find things out...like Soldier Of Fortune is published there...

See? At least it has SOME good points!

...some good HOLLOW points...

I made it through ten years of construction work and innumerable rock-n-roll load-ins/outs with my abdomen intact; it was gamelan that gave me a hernia.

Those rice farmers are some tough dudes...

haaa... yea, I bet. How long do you generally take to set up... ie: if you are scheduled for 9, what time is everyone expected to show up?

Good question, as the rules of the Fringe Festival were very clear: an hour between shows, so the departing band gets a half hour to vacate the stage and the incoming band a half hour to set up. We have the advantage of not having to plug anything in, but it's still a big challenge to set the stage in that amount of time...we also have to set up our backdrop: a Balinese temple gate that has to be assembled on the stage. We managed to get in under the wire setting up and tearing down for both of our shows, but it's a real choreographed affair. Fortunately, we had a truck with a lift gate, so we could load straight onto the stage.

Both gigs went really well...although the Broncos games kept attendance down. You wouldn't think gamelan would have to compete with football for the same audience, but around here everything does...including religion.

It's been a crazy week...our friend Bob Bellerue was in town from L.A. to play the Fringe and a couple of bar gigs. He's a 'noise' artist...studied with Morton Subotnik (et al) at Cal Arts. I put him on the plane for home about an hour ago; he has a live performance tomorrow night at midnight on KXLU in L.A., so he had to hurry back. While he was here, some friends of his from Oakland called the Yellow Swans came through to play a gig at the Larimer Lounge downtown. They didn't have a place to stay, so they crashed at our place. We went to see their set...it was great. I feel much more knowledgeable about the noise scene than I did a week ago...

Now things are sort of back to 'normal'...except PW3 has a gig at the Hi Dive tomorrow night. No rest for the exhausted...the beat goes on...

>>>we also have to set up our backdrop: a Balinese temple gate

geeee.... I guess if you wanted to lighten your load, that would be the thing to go, eh? All my band has is a nifty little drumhead sign that I made from material sewed onto one of those flexible round windshield sun screen hoops that can fold in on itself. Cool invention if I do say so myself.... light and fits into almost anywhere.

>>>He's a 'noise' artist

ok, I'll bite. What in the world is that? I can imagine something, but the options are pretty limitless.

Our crew shows up about 4 hours before showtime, I try to get there about 45 minutes before showtime.