Foremost is the country's signature style, the gamelan orchestra, a percussive, clanging music that lends itself both to wild celebrations and solemn ceremonies. Its haunting drones and organic, hypnotic qualities speak to the myriad, hidden possibilites of music itself: it wrests surprising emotions from simple instrumentation.

Aside from their groundbreaking percussion work, Indonesian musicians also use various flutes, zithers, and many other instruments. Modern artists like SambaSunda look to the country's past to guide them as they create new music for the future, forging a style that is very accessible to international ears.

Indonesian Music Info

Gamelan

A percussive, sometimes noisy sound filled with xylophones, gongs and drums often fills the air in Indonesian towns. This is the sound of a gamelan orchestra, of which there are many varieties, but which generally feature several different gongs, bells, cymbals... [more]

Kacapi Suling

Kacapi suling is an instrumental style of music from Indonesia featuring two zithers and a flute. It forms a light sort of intermission during long performances of tembang Sunda (a kind of sung poetry performance which dates back to the 1800's)... [more]

SambaSunda

SambaSunda is an ensemble from Sunda in Indonesia. The group plays traditional gamelan music with several modern twists - most notably, the Brazilian samba of their name. The group is the highly individualistic brainchild of the visionary musician Ismet Ruchimat... [more]

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