By: Ribeth Nurvijayanto
The sound of Banyuwangi gamelan sounded rampak and dynamic in the arena of UPT Taman Budaya Jawa Timur (TBJ) as if welcoming our arrival of the Ethnomusicology Department of ISI Yogyakarta. We were stunned for a moment, it turned out that the Banyuwangi gamelan that we heard from a distance was played by children from one of the junior high schools in East Java. They are one of the participants of the Kembang Setaman Surabaya Gamelan Parade in 2022. Reported from Jatimpos.co This event was initiated by UPT Taman Budaya Jawa Timur (TBJ) and was the second time it was held, first in 2012, said the Head of UPT TBJ Samad Widodo, SS, MM. ”This term is defined as a space for artists in order to present creativity in the process of realizing the work, with the approach of the locality of karawitan including creativity, innovation, multi-discipline, cross-style / work and so on," he continued. Participants who performed consisted of students, college students, and artists from various parts of East Java and several other regions, one of which was a contingent from the Ethnomusicology Department of ISI Yogyakarta. The 2022 Gamelan Kembang Setaman Parade took place over two days, October 28-29, 2022, at the Pendapa TBJ and Cak Durasim Building.
The contingent of the Department of Ethnomusicology ISI Yogyakarta went to Surabaya with 25 personnel consisting of lecturers, students, and assisted by educational staff. The contingent was led directly by the Head of the Department Dr. I Nyoman Cau Arsana, S.Sn., M.Hum. and under the direction of Drs. Joko Tri Laksnono, M.A., M.M., as Secretary of the Department and activity coordinator. The Ethnomusicology Department presented a repertoire of gamelan compositions entitled “Kemepyar” composed by Warsana, M.Sn. “Kemepyar” in Javanese according to the composer can be interpreted as an impact experienced by humans related to psychology, when the five senses receive a shock effect from outside themselves. The head feels light, suddenly the eyes become bright, sweat pouring out, like the effect if we eat spicy hot soup, more or less like that said Warsana, M.Sn. The “Kemepyar” effect was then used as a basis for thinking about creating a gamelan composition with the title “Kemepyar”. The instruments used are pelog-barreled gamelan instruments, sexophone, terbang, violin, sapek, and cuk-cak. The composition is dominated by melodic singkup, interlocking patterns, fast tempo, which brings a feeling of passion. ‘Kemepyar” was performed on October 29, 2022 at the Cak Durasim Building and became the closing repertoire of the 2022 Kembang Setaman Gamelan Parade.
After the performance, there was a light discussion held at the Pendapa TBJ. The speakers were Drs. Joko Tri Laksono, M.A., M.M. and Warsana, M.Sn. The theme raised was about the phenomenon of the development and existence of Gamelan in the city of Surabaya which is closely related to modernization and urbanization. The Department of Ethnomusicology ISI Yogyakarta is committed to continuing to build relationships with various stakeholders from both government and private agencies in the implementation of education, research, and community service. One of them is with UPT Taman Budaya East Java. This relationship cooperation program has been built for a long time, and participation in this activity is not the first time. Hopefully in the future this kind of relationship will continue to be improved for the progress of the Department of Ethnomusicology ISI Yogyakarta in particular and ISI Yogyakarta in general.
