Gamelan is sort of traditional music instrument rich in Indonesian culture. Existed since ancient kingdoms, Gamelan is still being performed until today. It composes kendhang, bonang, peking, saron, demung, slenthem, gong, and many more. These music equipment are often performed in internatinal scale both in cultural exchange or in ceremonial, state events held by government of Indonesia. Some foreigners also show their interest in learning these instruments further due to the unique harmony it produces.

On Friday, 20 November 2015, the Office of International Affairs and Partnerships (OIAP), YSU held Gamelan class for international students of taking Indonesian for Non-native Speakers (Bahasa Indonesia untuk Penutur Asing, Bipa). Conducted in Gamelan laboratory, PLA Building, Faculty of Languages and Arts, YSU. Here, these students were given a chance to learn basic techniques in playing the instruments.

“Playing gamelan is lots of fun, I wanna learn it more” says Mila, a student from Russia. The beauty of gamelan lies on the harmony between the instruments, namely the percussion instruments, being the most typical of this set of traditional instruments.

Dr Purwadi M. Hum. as the lecturer in the class is a virtuoso in karawitan (the act of playing gamelan). He taught those international students how to perform gamelan right while singing “Suwe Ora Jamu”. Those students were ful of enthusiasm in following the guidance of Purwadi regarding the rythm of the gamelan. (Silmi)