The
Angklung is a musical instrument made of two
bamboo tubes attached to a bamboo frame. The tubes are carved to have a resonant pitch when struck and are tuned to
octaves.
The base of the frame is held in one hand, whilst the other hand
strucks the instrument. This causes a repeating note to sound. Each of
three or more performers in an angkalung ensemble play just one note or
more, but altogether complete melodies are produced. The
Angklung is popular throughout
Southeast Asia, but it originated in today's
Indonesia and has been played by the
Sundanese for many centuries.

The word "angklung" was originated from
Sundanese "angkleung-angkleungan", that means the movement of angklung player and the sound "klung" that comes from the instrument.
[1]
Another theory suggested that the word "angklung" was formed from two
Balinese words -
angka and
lung.
Angka means "tone", and
lung means "broken" or "lost". Angklung thus means an "incomplete tone".
According to Dr.Groneman, angklung had already been a favorite
musical instrument of the entire archipelago even before the Hindu era.
According to
Jaap Kunst in
Music in Java,
besides West Java, angklung also exists in South Sumatra and
Kalimantan. Lampung, East Java and Central Java are also familiar with
the instrument.
[1]
In the
Hindu period and the time of the
Kingdom of Sunda, the angklung played an important role in ceremonies. The angklung was played to honor
Dewi Sri, the goddess of fertility, so she would bless their land and lives.
[2]
The angklung also signaled the time for prayers, and was said to have
been played since the 7th century in Kingdom of Sunda. In the Kingdom of
Sunda, it provided martial music during the
Battle of Bubat, as told in the
Kidung Sunda.
[3]
The oldest surviving angklung is 400 years old Angklung Gubrag. It was made in the 17th century in Jasinga,
Bogor. Other antique angklung are stored in the Sri Baduga Museum,
Bandung.
[3] The oldest angklung tradition is called "Angklung Buhun" (
Sundanese: "Ancient Angklung") from
Lebak Regency,
Banten [4] Angklung buhun is an ancient type of angklung played by
Baduy people of inland Banten province during
Seren Taun harvest ceremony.
In 1938, Daeng Soetigna, from
Bandung, created an angklung that is based on the diatonic scale instead of the traditional
pélog or
sléndro
scales. Since then, the angklung has returned to popularity and is used
for education and entertainment, and may even accompany western
instruments in an orchestra. One of the first performances of angklung
in an orchestra was in 1955 during the
Bandung Conference. In 1966
Udjo Ngalagena, a student of
Daeng Soetigna, opened his "Saung Angklung" (House of Angklung) as a centre for its preservation and development.
[3]
UNESCO designated the angklung a Masterpiece of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity on November 18, 2010.
[5]
In
Bali, an ensemble of angklung is called
gamelan angklung (
anklung).
While the ensemble gets its name from the bamboo shakers, these days
most compositions for Gamelan Angklung do not use them. An ensemble of
mostly bronze
metallophones is used instead, generally with about 20 musicians.
While the instrumentation of gamelan angklung is similar to
gamelan gong kebyar, it has several critical differences. First, the instruments are tuned to a 5-tone
slendro
scale, though actually most ensembles use a four-tone mode of the
five-tone scale played on instruments with four keys. An exception is
the five-tone angklung from the north of Bali. But even in four-tone
angklung groups, the flute players will occasionally touch on the fifth
implied tone. Secondly, whereas many of the instruments in gong kebyar
span multiple octaves of its pentatonic scale, mosts gamelan angklung
instruments only contain one octave, although some five-tone ensembles
have roughly an octave and a half. The instruments are considerably
smaller than those of the gong kebyar.
Gamelan angklung is often heard in Balinese temples, where it supplies musical accompaniment to temple anniversaries (
odalan).
It is also characteristic of rituals related to death, and therefore
connected in Balinese culture to the invisible spiritual realm and
transitions from life to death and beyond. Because of its portability,
gamelan angklung may be carried in processions while a funeral bier is
carried from temporary burial in a cemetery to the cremation site. The
musicians also often play music to accompany the cremation ceremony.
Thus many Balinese listeners associate angklung music with strong
emotions evoking a combination of sacred sweetness and sadness.
The structure of the music is similar to gong kebyar, although
employing a four tone scale. Jublag and jegog carry the basic melody,
which is elaborated by gangsa, reyong, ceng-ceng, drum, and flute. A
medium sized gong, called kempur, is generally used to punctuate a
piece's major sections.
Most older compositions do not employ gong kebyar's more ostentatious
virtuosity and showmanship. Recently many Balinese composers have
created kebyar-style works for gamelan angklung or have rearranged
kebyar melodies to fit the angklung's more restricted four tone scale.
These new pieces often feature dance, so the gamelan angklung is
augmented with more gongs and heavier gongs. Additionally, some modern
composers have created experimental instrumental pieces for the gamelan
angklung.
The angklung was first invented in West Java, Indonesia; with a
possibility of cultural transmittance to various other places such as
Malaysia & the Philippines over the course of several centuries. In
the early 20th century during the time of
Dutch East Indies, the
angklung was adopted in
Thailand, where it is called
angkalung
(อังกะลุง). It was recorded that angklung was brought to Siam in 1908
by Luang Pradit Pairoh, royal musician in the entourage of HRH Field
Marshal Prince
Bhanurangsi Savangwongse of Siam, who paid a royal visit to Java that year (27 years after the first state visit of his elder brother, King
Chulalongkorn to Java in 1871.) The Thai
angklung
are typically tuned in the Thai tuning system of seven equidistant
steps per octave, and each angklung has three bamboo tubes tuned in
three separate octaves rather than two, as is typical in Indonesia.
In 2008, there was a grand celebration in the Thai traditional music
circle, to mark the 100th anniversary of the introduction of angklung to
Thailand. Both the Thai and Indonesian governments supported to
celebration.
Angklung has also been adopted by its
Austronesian-speaking neighbors, in particular by
Malaysia and the
Philippines, where they are played as part of bamboo xylophone orchestras. Formally introduced into Malaysia sometime after the end of the
Confrontation, angklung found immediate popularity.
[6] They are generally played using a
pentatonic scale similar to the Indonesian
slendro, although in the Philippines, sets also come in the
diatonic and
minor scales used to perform various
Spanish-influenced
folk music in addition to native songs in pentatonic.
At least one Sundanese
angklung buncis ensemble exists in the United States. Angklung Buncis Sukahejo is an ensemble at
The Evergreen State College, and includes eighteen double rattles (nine tuned pairs) and four
dog-dog drums.
Many angklung videos are available on youtube. People have even
started to play pop songs on them, which just goes to show how quickly
this generation is going by.