As part of the Guildhall leadership program we spent 2 weeks in Bali studying Balinese and Javanese Gamelan. It was intense tuition and was apparent that it would take many lifetimes of serious commitment to get to grips with the many variations in style and technique.
The instruments were invariably tuned microtonally to produce an oscillating sound when played together. The music often consists of long melodic phrases with big changes in speed and dynamics and uses fierce counter rhythms which demand serious teamwork