Gamelan Oksitan is a world music project directed by Mark Lockett for the Aude and in particular for the town of Limoux available for performances, workshops and interdisciplinary projects. Made in 2003/4 by Pak Marseno in Solo, Java, this finely crafted set of bronze instruments with red and gold carved frames and stands arrived in Limoux at the end of 2004.

Since then it has been used for workshops for local schools, patients of the psychiatric hospital in Limoux, and the general public. Until summer 2005 it was housed in the Ecole Ste-Germaine (infant and primary school) and was used for music lessons as well as by an adult group which rehearses on Tuesday evenings. We are currently looking for a permanent home and rehearsal space for the gamelan.

What is gamelan?
Essentially it is an orchestral music, melodic percussion, composed and learned by ear rather than improvised. With an enormous tonal range from the highest metallophone to the deepest gong, the sound is immediately captivating and entrancing. It is thought that the music is already contained within the instruments - it just takes a little human intervention to made it audible!

Gamelan music merits a place alongside other great musical traditions of the world such as European, Arabic, Chinese, the various musics of the African diaspora, and Latin America. Also it has been a decisive influence on French music from Debussy to Messiaen, from Jolivet to Mâche, to mention just a few. The origins of this orchestra are obscure as it belongs to an oral culture, rather than one where the history has been written down. Gamelan is based less on names of composers or performers and more on a spirit of collectivity. The gamelan player becomes one with the ensemble, melting into the harmony of synchronised tones. You really have to see a gamelan in full swing to appreciate this; no player has a role more or less important than the others. Anonymity is natural in a music which requires a number of people to play 'the instrument'. Celebrities and fashions are just waves which come and go in an ocean of music without beginning or end. Gamelan music or the gamelan is part of a culture where art for art's sake, an activity apart from everything else, doesn't exist. Here, sculpture, music, dance and painting are collective talents and an enrichment of everyday life. Music is inseparable from social organisation, religion and other arts. It is particularly close to dance and theatre. There is no divide between amateur and professional, classical and contemporary, ritual or entertainment.

Now in the West, particularly in the USA, Australia and northern Europe, gamelan has become a part of musical training in schools and conservatoires. It has also been used very much in arts therapy. Although it can be taken to high levels of musicianship, the gamelan is particularly welcoming to the non-musician. Right from the start one can play together as most of the instruments aren't actually technically difficult. One learns by ear. After two hours it's possible to play simple traditional pieces, even for beginners! Also one begins to understand a totally different musical language.

There are many different traditions of gamelan, mainly based around the islands of Java and Bali, the most well-known being the court music of central Java (Surakarta and Yogyakarta styles) and the 20th century Balinese dance music Gamelan Gong Kebyar. But there are many regional and folk styles, some popular, some less fashionable and some obsolete

Gamelan Oksitan is a central Javanese ensemble in the royal court tradition. It comprises the following instruments:

Metallophones
saron peking x 1
saron barung x 4
saron demung x 2

Suspended metallophones
gendËr panerus
gendËr barung
slentem

Horizontal gongs
bonang panerus
bonang barung
kethuk/kempyang
kenong 3, 5, 6, 1, 2

Gongs suspended
kempul 3, 5, 6, 1, 2
gong suwukan 6, 1, 2
gong ageng

Tambours
kethipung
ciblon
kendang

plus suling (bamboo flute), rebab (Arabic spike-fiddle), gambang (xylophone) and siter (zither) and singing!

For further information and see links to the ìMusic from Java and Bali in Franceî site:

http://gamelan.free.fr/oksitan.htm

For further information about Mark Lockettís gamelan salunding and gamelan gendËr wayang:

http://gamelan.free.fr/lockett0.htm