Gamelan
The Traditional SOunds of Indonesia (Focus on World Music)
Gamelan: The Traditional Sounds of Indonesia provides an introduction to present-day Javanese, Balinese, Cirebonese, and Sundanese gamelan (gong chime orchestra music through ethnic, social, cultural, and global perspectives. Deemphasizing potentially intimidating technical discussions of scales and models, this unique work focuses on the approaches to composing and playing gamelan music and how they relate to cultural and personal values.An introduction to Southeast Asian geography and history leads to a discussion of the different gamelan traditions in Bali and Java. A chapter on music and dance in West Java includes never-before published information on a variety of Sundanese music and dance genres. A case study of "jaipongan," and "dangdut," indigenous modern music and dance forms, explores their roots, roles, and authenticity.
Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction, Fiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.
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What the reading experience may hold
A fuller profile for choosing with more confidence—not just another copy of the preview.
Nonfiction · Fiction
Use these as starting points rather than limits; the most memorable books often stretch beyond their catalog labels.
No specific content concerns can be confirmed from the available English catalog information. Consult a publisher or reader-supplied guide when detailed warnings matter.
These notes are inferred from available catalog information and may not be complete. Check a publisher or reader-supplied guide if you need comprehensive warnings.
Balanced tone · Measured pace
A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.
A good fit if…
Readers who want a thoughtful experience and enjoy noticing the connections beneath a book’s surface story.
This book's DNA
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This signal is descriptive, not a rating. It helps compare the kind of reading experience this edition may offer.
Spoiler-Free Emotional Arc
A broad estimate of the book’s emotional rhythm, shown without story events or outcomes.
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A quick reading snapshot
Edition facts and catalog signals to help you decide whether this book fits what you want to read next.
- ISBN-13
- 978-0-4159-6068-7
- Language
- English
- Edition record
- OL9441893M
A more thoughtful way into this book
This guide uses the edition details and category signals above to help you choose deliberately. It does not replace the author's work or a full review.
A comfortable full-length choice for steady daily reading.
Begin with its place in Nonfiction, then notice where the book resists that label.
Read for connection, not completion.
Mark one passage that sharpens the book's central concern and one that complicates it. That tension often reveals more than a quick summary.
Three questions to carry with you
- Whose perspective organizes the story, and whose perspective remains outside it?
- Which sources or lived experiences carry the author’s central argument?
- How does the book change the way you understand its larger subject?
Editorial framework by Wesley Bryan, BookenDeX Founder and Editor.
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