)
Balinese Monkey Chant (ketjak)
Bali, the ultimate island paradise, is also an island of artists, dancers, and musicians. Art is truly a part of everyday life in Bali, where everyone seems to spend their free-time drawing, painting, sculpting, weaving, singing, playing music, dancing, and acting.
I had the pleasure to travel to Bali in 1992, where I was the academic director of a study-abroad program sponsored by the Naropa Institue, a Buddhist-based college in Boulder, Colorado. During that time, I studied Balinese gamelan, a form of orchestral music which uses gongs, drums, flutes, and metallophones (think of marimbas made of bronze). I also learned the ketjak, or monkey chant, which is performed using voices alone, some of them imitating the sound of the gamelan orchestra, others the sound of monkeys. My primary Balinese teacher was Nyoman Sumandhi.
Here's a short example of ketjak from the film "Baraka", which I highly recommend. If you like this clip and want to see more, please rent or purchase this film.
RhythmJoy
Geoff Johns & Carol Lutra-Johns
10354 SW Mukai Circle, Vashon Island, WA, 98070
Tel - 206.567.5822
Designed and programmed by
TerraRhythm
Engineering Global Media for Vibrant Change
- click thumbnails to enlarge -
)
An archive shot of an early Ketjak performance
I love Balinese gamelan,
and can teach it on a rudimentary level, but I do not own a set of these instruments, which are large, heavy, and expensive. Ketjak, on the other hand, requires only a sufficient number of voices. Twenty is enough, but I prefer to have 50 or more. Some of the parts are extremely easy. Others are more challenging. Ketjak is fun for all ages and abilities.