Guide to Sundanese Music - Free EBooks Library

GAMELAN SALfiNDRO/P^LOG : SARON
In all these variations, saron I is confined to every other note:
14 2 5
while saron II is confined to the notes in between:
5 3 1
(although saron II does also play the gong note bein/4 at the end)
The two saron players must listen closely to each other to ensure that their
parts fit together smoothly, and do not become disjointed. This is the kind
of thing you want to avoid:
G
saron I
saron 11
ii- 5
5 , 5 . j3 7~5 . 5 5 4
Taken in isolation, neither of the above parts is implausible, but in
combination there are too many leaps. If your partner is playing high (or
low), you should do the same. Theoretically saron I takes the lead.
One difference between caruk and Javanese imbal saron is that in caruk,
saron II plays the destination note at the end of the pattern. Often
saron II does not play immediately after the "comma" (which would mean
playing three notes in rapid succession). In the above examples, the notes
marked * may well be omitted.
Sometimes the saron I player may vary the rhythm slightly by adding an extra
off-beat note, which is damped as it is played to produce a nice clunk. The
damped notes are here shown as \:
saron 1=4 4 .\\ 4 4|
Instrumentalists often use onomatopoeic syllables when demonstrating vocally
how something goes. The above saron I line might be sung as something like:
net neng neng neng, net neng neng ning nong
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