Week 3 Questions

Week 3 Questions:

After watching both performances, I noticed that there were a good amount of similarities and differences between each despite the fact that they are playing the same style of music. For example, the first performance had female dancers in the center of the performance area with the musicians surrounding them. It was clear that throughout the Ratna Ayu performance that the dancers were meant to be focused on throughout. This is different, however, in the Gamelan Bali Nyepi performance, the musicians themselves are meant to be the center of the performance as they are oriented in a circular fashion without any dancers in the center. Along with this difference, the way that the music sounded also differed from performance to performance. For example, in the Ratna Ayu, the music almost seemed like it had more sectinos that constrasted each other. In the beginning of the performance, most of the musicians are playing and as a result the rhythms are faster. This changes in the middle of the dancer's performance in that the music becomes much more toned down from the beginning. All the musicians are continually playing however they are playing in unison in this section. At the end of this Ratna Ayu performance, the musicians once again start to play more complex lines. This contrast is not heard in the Gamelan Bali Nyepi performance in which the musicians who are surrounding each other seem to be maintaining the driving rhythm throughout. Also in the Gamelan Bali Nyepi performance, some of the musicians seemed to have some sort of shakers which created a distinct sound that was not heard in the Ratna Ayu performance.