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How to Play Timang Burung (Pecah) with Bonang
Let's watch how the full song is performed by Sanggar Kirana...
Timang Burung Music Sheet
Song Background
When the lead singer of the gamelan orchestra starts to sing the ancient words "Timang Burung — Anak raja turun ke taman", it is almost as if we’re transported to a beautiful kayangan garden akin to Eden. There’s softness in movement that’s simply mesmerising. Music and dance telling a timeless tale.
A classic Gamelan performance, like ballet, almost always tells a hidden story. Timang Burung, one of the most famous Gamelan Melayu performances, is inspired by Hikayat Panji Semirang. It evokes the lovers’ tale of Raden Galuh Chendera Kirana and Raden Inu Karpati. Having run away from the royal palace, Chendera Kirana, alone and dejected, takes a breather in the forest. Thinking of her lost love, she plays with her beloved pet bird that can dance.
In the Joget Gamelan Timang Burung, every movement emulates the graceful movement of a bird in flight or at rest, exuding simple joy and serenity.
Getting to know the “Mipil" or "Pecah" technique for Bonang
In Gamelan, especially for Bonang , there are only two techniques to play this instrument; Gembyang (serentak) and Mipil (pecah). Mipil is the advanced technique of playing bonang, unlike Gembyang, we must play the Bonang in double notes. For example, the Gembyang is like crotchet while mipil is like quaver (half note of crotchet). But unlike the other instrument, mipil in bonang uses one hand at one time as you can see in the example below.
P/S: The dots on the upper part of bonang is only for lesson purposes.
Blue arrow: Left hand
Red arrow: Right hand
When playing bonang using mipil technique from 1 to 6, you must start the song using the left hand. For example, from the picture above, you must play like:
And to be more simple, left hand is always on beat while the right hand always off beat.
P/S: The dots on the upper part of bonang is only for lesson purposes.
Blue arrow: Left hand
Red arrow: Right hand
To play bonang using the mipil technique from 6 to 1, you also must start the song using the left hand. For example, from the picture above, you must play like:
When playing mipil technique in traditional song, you also have to combine with gembyang method, but only one beat before rest.
Timang Burung Example
From line 1 timang burung, you can play like:
continue..
P/S: The red-colored notes is where you play gembyang.
Playing line by line
1st Line
2nd Line
3rd Line
4th Line
Playing full song with and without metronome (bpm = 80)
Timang Burung Tutorial Video
Now let's watch the tutorial on how to play Timang Burung (Pecah) on Bonang.
The link for the full syllabus playlist can be found here.
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