Bonang

Bonang

The bonang is a musical instrument used in the Javanese gamelan. It is a collection of small gongs placed horizontally onto strings in a wooden frame (rancak), either one or two rows wide. All of the kettles have a central boss, but around it the lower-pitched ones have a flattened head, while the higher ones have an arched one. Each is tuned to a specific pitch in the appropriate scale; thus there are different bonang for pelog and slendro. They are typically hit with padded sticks (tabuh). This is similar to the other cradled gongs in the gamelan, the kethuk, kempyang, and kenong. Bonang may be made of forged bronze, welded and cold-hammered iron, or a combination of metals. In addition to the gong-shaped form of kettles, economical bonang made of hammered iron or brass plates with raised bosses are often found in village gamelan, in Suriname-style gamelan, and in some American gamelan.
The parts played by the bonang barung and bonang panerus are more complex than many instruments in the gamelan; thus, it is generally considered an elaborating instrument. Sometimes it plays melodies based on the balungan, though generally modified in a simple way. However, it can also play more complex patterns, obtained by combining barung and panerus patters, such as the alternation of interlocking parts and the interpolation of florid melodic patterns (sekaran).
A single, l-shaped, row, bonang is also a leading melodic instrument in the Sundanese Gamelan degung.
The bonang is similar to the Balinese reong and the single row kulintang of the southern Philippines and Borneo.

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