Music4U’s Rise of the Sea Dragon project – Javanese gamelan and musical inclusion

Music4U is currently leading on an exciting surge of activity in Yorkshire and the Humber, exploring the Javanese gamelan as a tool for meaningful musical inclusion.

Music4U is currently leading on an exciting surge of activity in Yorkshire and the Humber, exploring the Javanese gamelan as a tool for meaningful musical inclusion. I wanted to take a moment to share with you what we have been up to and to ask you to, please, do one very small but deeply significant thing (more on which later…!)

Who are Music4U?

Music4U is a Musical Inclusion project, funded by Youth Music and led by the National Centre for Early Music in collaboration with York Arts Education, and local authority arts development teams in Hull, the East Riding of Yorkshire, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. Music4U works to provide young people, living in challenging circumstances in York and the Humber Region, access to high-quality musical development experiences and relevant progression routes. Music4U is also committed to the continuing professional development of the music-leading workforce and works to expand the skills of both emerging and established professionals.

What is gamelan?

Gamelan is an ensemble of bronze gongs and metallophones, originating in Indonesia (predominantly Java and Bali) and now popular across the globe. Gamelan instruments are usually played by striking metal keys or pots with wooden/fabric mallets, producing a resonant and vibrant soundworld, which is often felt as much as it is heard! Gamelan ensembles are interesting in that each player is generally considered equal to another and there is no single, specified lead instrument or conductor, which makes for a co-operative and genuinely communal musical experience when playing. More information on the specifics of gamelan can be found here.

What has Music4U been up to?

Building on the success and learning from previous gamelan-related projects (including a gamelan/jazz fusion project marking the opening of Hull’s Albemarle Music Centre; The Colours of Music, a collaborative cross-arts performance project with Spin Off Productions and four special schools in Hull; and last year’s Exploring Gamelan project which developed methods of increasing the accessibility of the instruments), Music4U is now working to increase awareness of and opportunities to play the gamelan in Hull. We have been collaborating with the Hull Music Hub, which has its own large Javanese gamelan (handcrafted in Indonesia and named Kyai Sri Jaladri Naga, or The Honorific Sea Dragon, in reference to Hull’s maritime connections), to increase the number of young people accessing instruments and art from another culture, and to put in place training opportunities that ensure continued activity into the future.

Our current Rise of the Sea Dragon project, which has grown from this partnership and Music4U’s rich gamelan history, has two key strands. Firstly, it focuses on the training of local music practitioners, through a CPD programme, designed to equip members of this workforce with the necessary skills and experience to continue developing gamelan delivery in Hull in future. The CPD element has involved practical training sessions with me (director of Leeds' Golden Thread Gamelan, performer with York's Gamelan Sekar Petak, Rise of the Sea Dragon Project Manager) and John Pawson (highly-experienced gamelan tutor and musician, currently performing with London's Southbank Gamelan Players). The CPD strand also links to the second, workshop-focused strand, in which young people from the local community are invited to take part in practical learning and playing sessions, led by gamelan experts and trainees. Experienced gamelan practitioners have been gradually passing leadership over to the trainees and providing opportunities for them to reflect on and share their practice. Our four gamelan trainees are percussionist Gary Hammond, community artist and musician Charles Huckvale, community musician and performer Donna Smith, and composer/cellist and artistic collaborator Ellen Jordan. We have been working with young people from Bridgeview School (for children with behavioural, emotional and social difficulties), Rise Academy (Pupil Referral Unit), St Nicholas Primary School, Penshurst Primary School, KIDS Charity (working to support disabled children), and Freedom Road Creative Arts.

What have we found out so far?

While we are only part-way through the project, we have already started to see some clear signs that gamelan is a good choice of musical genre for working with groups of young people often excluded from musical learning and performance. Here are some of the things we have noticed:

• Most young people pick up how to play gamelan instruments quickly and naturally. The complexity of playing techniques does not pose a barrier for most of the instruments within the ensemble;
• Because of the above, there is limited need for young people to practice on their own at home/elsewhere, which can be a real challenge for young people whose lives are often disrupted or who do not have access to the necessary support and encouragement to guide self-study;
• Young people and their families/carers do not have to pay expensive instrument hire/purchase costs, as there is no need for individuals within the ensemble to have their own instruments;
• Gamelan provides a somewhat rare opportunity for musicians with little or no prior experience to come together and play a genuine piece of traditional music;
• Gamelan also offers rare opportunities to bring complete beginners together with highly-experienced musicians – the music is structured in such a way that advanced players can delve deeper and take on greater challenges, while still leaving room for novices to play meaningful and traditional parts within the same piece;
• Young people report finding the sounds and the act of playing “soothing”, “stress-busting” and “calming”, something which we all need at times but which can be particularly vital for young people whose lives are often disrupted or challenging;
• Gamelan is communal by nature, giving young people a genuine sense of contribution and control, which is something often missing in the lives of the young people with whom we work;
• Playing any traditional piece of gamelan music requires teamwork (especially where there is no conductor/leader) and provides enjoyable opportunities, for those who find group co-operation challenging, to practice functioning as part of a team;
• Gamelan is often different to anything people have seen or heard before, therefore there are limited preconceptions about what the music is like, who it is for, and importantly who can succeed in playing it;
• The instruments of the gamelan are beautiful, shimmering bronze with exquisitely hand-carved wooden frames – young people are able to see and understand the preciousness of the instruments and feel a great sense of pride in being trusted and allowed to play them.

What next?

There are still a few months left to run on the Rise of the Sea Dragon project and we hope to continue learning more about how this exciting, communal ensemble can be used to support young musicians from all walks of life. We are also looking to the future, exploring how we can link to other gamelans across our region and celebrate the combination of this music and our local young people (something particularly current as we celebrate Hull as City of Culture 2017).

What can you do?

In particular, we have been linking our work on this project to the London Southbank Centre’s own drive to support and promote gamelan across the UK (which you can hear more about at the Music Education Expo next year). The Southbank Centre has been leading on a project called Waking Sleeping Dragons, which aims to support individuals and organisations to recognise unused gamelans in their settings or their region, with a view to mapping out where every set of gamelan instruments is across the country, so that together we can all start to get these fantastic resources back into use and resonating again.

So, here’s the audience participation bit! If you think you may have seen a gamelan lurking in a cupboard (or similar!) near you, or if you have your own well-used gamelan but think there may be others who don’t know about your wonderful work, then please get in touch with Dr Sophie Ransby (Southbank’s Gamelan Advisor) via the Waking Sleeping Dragons Facebook or get in touch with Music4U and we will pass information on. Thank you all!