[atlantaprog] Gamelan at Eyedrum...

Ok folks, this is a not-to-be-missed event. A San Francisco group called One People Voice is performing at Eyedrum this Wednesday. They are around 14 or 15 people who do traditional Balinese gamelan music, as well as gamelan-based music integrated with Western instruments. I saw them at Freedom Park yesterday and was blown away. If you're not familiar with gamelan music, it's a very percussive style played on various gongs, bells, cymbals. The players play interlocking parts in various time signatures and exotic scales that mesh together into some of the most rich and exotic music you've ever heard. They also incorporate vocal chants, including the invigorating "ketjak" (or monkey chant) you may have heard before. The history of Western music is filled with stories of composers from Claude Debussy to Robert Fripp, whose whole approach to music changed upon being exposed to gamelan music. In fact, Fripp's interlocking guitar-craft technique has it roots in gamelan. If you can't make the Wednesday show, they're also performing at a place called Railroad Earth on Friday, and at the over-the-top RIPE festival on Saturday night.


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