In addition by using more sampled western instruments it became possible to fine tune say, a piano to work better with an authentic, non concert-pitch gamelan set.Įach film in the ‘Afflictions’ series has its own unique character and setting and so each score attempts to reflect that musically. Indonesian instruments (the ‘tuned’ instruments still contain much of their unique character but are designed to marry more successfully with concert pitch instruments.) A good example of this would be ‘Family Victim’ (disc 2 #21) which successfully utilizes a large mixed western/Indonesian ensemble sound as a harmonious whole. ![]() ![]() Hence, the mournful, ‘sighing’ sounds of ‘Degung & Pak Kereta’ (disc 1 #2) or ‘Unclean Environment’ (disc 1 #5) sound equally at home depicting sorrow in Bali as they would in Mississippi!įor the later ‘Afflictions’ films we used technology a bit more to our advantage creating sound libraries of ‘tuned’ and ‘un-tuned’ sampled One of the more unusual choices of instrumentation in ’40 Years’ was the Dobro (a kind of slide guitar more commonly used in American folk/roots music.) Guitars are actually widely used all over Indonesia, but more importantly the pentatonic minor ‘blues’ scale is analogous with a commonly used local scale. At the mixing stage, the higher-pitched ‘Gansa’ metallophones were clashing too much pitch-wise with the other instruments so as a compromise the same part was played on an equivalent western metallophone the glockenspiel, played with wooden mallets to bring it closer in sound to the gamelan instruments. The large gongs and ‘core’ metallophones (Jegog, Calung and Penyacah) provide a rhythmic accompaniment. The central theme ‘Genjer Genjer’ loaned itself well to arrangement in the pivotal scene ‘Budi’s Homecoming’ (dic 1 #7) you’ll hear the melody in the piano/cellos with the rest of the strings adding some emotional punch. ’40 Years’ proved to be a testing ground for some of these ideas. Like any good international summit, the point was not to dwell on these differences but rather to find common ground and compromise. This produces ‘beating’ between close frequencies, considered undesirable dissonance in Western music – put simply, it sounds ‘out of tune’. To compound matters, in the case of the Balinese gamelan micro-tonal differences between pairs of instruments is a desirable quality. So, a full gamelan orchestra may be ‘in tune’ with itself and little else! The likelihood of, say, a western ‘concert pitch’/A440 Hz grand piano being able to integrate harmoniously with a Balinese gamelan is next to zero. Traditional Indonesian instruments do not generally follow a western standard tuning – indeed, each region prides itself on its tuning idiosyncrasies. ![]() The biggest practical hurdle to overcome is that of intonation or tuning. For western audiences to connect with these emotionally charged stories the scores would have to also use some traditional western film vocabulary and instrumentation. This is particularly true of classical gamelan music, whose shimmering cyclical melodies and rhythms are designed to create a sense of cool, emotional detachment in order to inspire a selfless, contemplative state. But to a western ear, Javanese and Balinese music does not have the same emotional resonance as to its native audience. Scoring these films – first ’40 Years’ and then the ‘Afflictions’ series – presented some real conundrums musically, namely: how to marry two sound worlds – traditional Indonesian music and western film music – that are so intrinsically different?ĭirector Rob Lemelson wanted the viewer to feel ‘like they never leave’ Indonesia he had already collected plenty of ethnographic field recordings to ensure he had access to authentic traditional music.
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