WEAPONS OF THE SHADOW PUPPETS

asomotif · 28th June 2011, 07:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VANDOO

A BIT OFF TOPIC BUT AS THE LEGENDS AND STORIES TOLD IN THE WAYANG KULIT (SHADOW PUPPET) PLAYS TELL MUCH OF THE HISTORY AND BELIEFS OF THE SOCIETY IT APPLYS HERE.
IN THE SHADOW PUPPET PLAYS ONE CAN ACTUALLY SEE THE KERIS FLY AND SEEK OUT ITS VICTUMS AS WELL AS MANY OTHER MAGICAL OCCURANCES. THESE ITEMS ARE FROM JAWA WAYANG KULIT AND GIVE SOME IDEA OF VARIATIONS OF BOTH SYMBOLIC WEAPONS AGAINST SPIRITS AS WELL AS ACTUAL WEAPONS USED IN THIS WORLD. THESE PLAYS ARE FUN TO WATCH SO I WOULD RECOMEND SEEING ONE IF THE CHANCE PRESENTS ITS SELF.

Interesting collection wayang kulit weapons.
I have never seen the loose weapons before.
Is this personal collection, or a picture from w.w.web ?

Best regards,
Willem

VANDOO · 29th June 2011, 12:25 AM

THESE TWO GROUPS WENT BY ON EBAY A SHORT WHILE AGO SO I WAITED UNTIL THE AUCTIONS CLOSED BEFORE POSTING. THIS WAS THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF SEPARATE WEAPONS I HAVE SEEN SO I THOUGHT IT WOULD MAKE AN INTERESTING POST. THE SELLER SEEMS TO HAVE A LARGE STOCK OF PUPPETS SO PERHAPS HAS BOUGHT A TRAVELING TROUPS SHOW?
I USUALLY TRAVEL ALONE AND ENJOY EXOTIC FOODS,SURROUNDINGS AND MUSIC SO AN EVENING AT THE PUPPET SHOW, CHINESE OPERA, LUAU, TAMARA OR MONKEY DANCE IS ALWAYS ENJOYABLE AND FUN EVEN IF I DON'T UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING THAT IS GOING ON.

Marcokeris · 29th June 2011, 10:11 PM

About gamelan could be interesting this Debussy opinion

http://brenthugh.com/debnotes/debussy-gamelan.pdf

A. G. Maisey · 30th June 2011, 12:01 AM

Yes, Debussy did know the gamelan, and was impressed by it, however you will not find any direct lifts of gamelan in his compositions, and he never attempted to incorporate slendro scale into his compositions.

Debussy was not alone in being impressed by gamelan. Many other western composers were too --- Bartok, Sculthorpe, McPhee, Cage --- the list goes on and on.

There is no doubt at all that gamelan is a brilliant musical form, and the players extremely skilled, particularly the leaders. I have seen a young Balinese leader sitting opposite a gender player, and teaching that player how to play his part. The leader was playing the part backwards, because he was sitting on the wrong side of the gender. Absolutely incredible to watch.

Equally, as I have already said, depending on the piece, gamelan can be OK.

If you ever hear one on the major Javanese gongs ( a "gong" is a gamelan group) playing the music that accompanies bedoyo, you could not fail but to be impressed with the majesty. Listen to a Balinese gong playing some of their brighter pieces, and its pleasant. There is a movement in Indonesia that I think was started by the son of the Late President Sukarno, which uses gamelan combined with western musical instruments.

The scales used in gamelan are pelog and slendro, and pelog is also the scale used in langgam jawa , which is a crossover musical form using a combination of western and Javanese musical forms, but with its roots firmly in kroncong, which is based on 17th century Portugese folk songs. In langgam jawa the cello takes the place of the gamelan ciblon ( drum) and sets tempo, so in this musical form you've also got gamelan influence.

Yes, no doubt about it, gamelan is a very serious musical form, and for somebody who is musically inclined who hears it for the first time, it would undoubtedly be impressive.

But that does not mean that everybody who is musically inclined will grow to love it.

I can tolerate it under ideal conditions and in small doses, but I'd much sooner listen to James Galway playing Mozart, or Little Walter in one of his more insane moments, or Andres Segovia playing anything.

Its all a matter of taste.

29th June 2011, 12:25 AM	#2
VANDOO (deceased) Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: OKLAHOMA, USA Posts: 3,138	THESE TWO GROUPS WENT BY ON EBAY A SHORT WHILE AGO SO I WAITED UNTIL THE AUCTIONS CLOSED BEFORE POSTING. THIS WAS THE LARGEST COLLECTION OF SEPARATE WEAPONS I HAVE SEEN SO I THOUGHT IT WOULD MAKE AN INTERESTING POST. THE SELLER SEEMS TO HAVE A LARGE STOCK OF PUPPETS SO PERHAPS HAS BOUGHT A TRAVELING TROUPS SHOW? I USUALLY TRAVEL ALONE AND ENJOY EXOTIC FOODS,SURROUNDINGS AND MUSIC SO AN EVENING AT THE PUPPET SHOW, CHINESE OPERA, LUAU, TAMARA OR MONKEY DANCE IS ALWAYS ENJOYABLE AND FUN EVEN IF I DON'T UNDERSTAND EVERYTHING THAT IS GOING ON.

29th June 2011, 10:11 PM	#3
Marcokeris Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Italy Posts: 928	About gamelan could be interesting this Debussy opinion http://brenthugh.com/debnotes/debussy-gamelan.pdf

30th June 2011, 12:01 AM	#4
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,992	Yes, Debussy did know the gamelan, and was impressed by it, however you will not find any direct lifts of gamelan in his compositions, and he never attempted to incorporate slendro scale into his compositions. Debussy was not alone in being impressed by gamelan. Many other western composers were too --- Bartok, Sculthorpe, McPhee, Cage --- the list goes on and on. There is no doubt at all that gamelan is a brilliant musical form, and the players extremely skilled, particularly the leaders. I have seen a young Balinese leader sitting opposite a gender player, and teaching that player how to play his part. The leader was playing the part backwards, because he was sitting on the wrong side of the gender. Absolutely incredible to watch. Equally, as I have already said, depending on the piece, gamelan can be OK. If you ever hear one on the major Javanese gongs ( a "gong" is a gamelan group) playing the music that accompanies bedoyo, you could not fail but to be impressed with the majesty. Listen to a Balinese gong playing some of their brighter pieces, and its pleasant. There is a movement in Indonesia that I think was started by the son of the Late President Sukarno, which uses gamelan combined with western musical instruments. The scales used in gamelan are pelog and slendro, and pelog is also the scale used in langgam jawa , which is a crossover musical form using a combination of western and Javanese musical forms, but with its roots firmly in kroncong, which is based on 17th century Portugese folk songs. In langgam jawa the cello takes the place of the gamelan ciblon ( drum) and sets tempo, so in this musical form you've also got gamelan influence. Yes, no doubt about it, gamelan is a very serious musical form, and for somebody who is musically inclined who hears it for the first time, it would undoubtedly be impressive. But that does not mean that everybody who is musically inclined will grow to love it. I can tolerate it under ideal conditions and in small doses, but I'd much sooner listen to James Galway playing Mozart, or Little Walter in one of his more insane moments, or Andres Segovia playing anything. Its all a matter of taste.