Balungan

The gatra (music) in a balungan have a distinctive pattern of notes and rests (pin), which are classified into several categories (given with an example in kepatihan notation): • Balungan mlaku (or balungan mlampah) do not use rests: : • Balungan nibani uses rests between each note, having notes only on the strong beats: : • Balungan nggantung ("hanging balungan") sustains a note, especially by playing it twice at the beginning of a gatra, or emphasizing it on the third (weak) beat: : • Balungan pin mundur use rests at accented places, thus using syncopation: : • Balungan ngadal (or balungan rangkep) subdivides the beats (keteg) of a gatra, notated by the overline, which means play twice as fast: : Different gendhing structures prefer certain types of gamelan. The implications of motion and stasis are important in achieving the mood of a composition. ==Other uses==

Balungan is also the name of a journal published by the American Gamelan Institute. ==Definitions==

Sumarsam argues that the use of the term, beginning directly after the introduction of notation, arose from the use of notation, theory, and pedagogy. • "The center of gravity of a gamelan composition, and the improviser's guideline, is a melody known as the 'skeleton' or 'framework' (balungan), played in a slow, even rhythm on [the]...saron." • "If the balungan is the same, then the elaborating parts should be the same." • "The instrumental melody called balungan (literally, 'skeleton', 'outline')." ==References==