The five notes in the slendro scale are assigned numbers: 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6. But wait, why aren't they just numbered 1 through 5? Well, that's a very good question. The short answer is that those numbers represent the closest approximation to members of the European scale system. If you numbered the members of a major scale 1 through 7, and then played 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6 the result would be close to a slendro scale.
Octave transpositions are normally indicated by a dot above for the higher octave, or a dot below for the lower octave. Here we will use "~" to denote the dot below for the sake of convenience. We will also often use "i" to represent a 1 with a dot above. So the normal range of a saron using this system looks like this:
6 1 2 3 5 6 i ~
Sometimes you will see a saron with an extended range:
. . . 5 6 1 2 3 5 6 1 2 3 ~ ~
A saron in this configuration (or some variation of it) is called saron wayang.
{Gatra 1} {Gatra 2} {Gatra 3} {Gatra 4} . 3 . 5 . 3 . 5 . 3 . 5 . 6 . 1 . 2 . 1 . 2 . 1 . 2 . 1 . 6 . 5
This is a relatively straight forward example, typical of the lancaran form. Each line of the piece consists of 4 gatras, each gatra being 4 beats long. In each gatra the first and third beats are silent, the balungan instruments playing only on the second and fourth beats.
If an instrument is playing a rhythm in which all or some of the durations are shorter than a beat, one must use lines above the notes to indicate this shorter duration. One line above will divide the beat into 2 equal parts, a double line will divide the beat into 4 equal parts. For those familiar with Western notation, this follows the same rules as adding beams to eighth and sixteenth notes. Here's an excerpt from the repertoire:
__ ______ __ ______ . . 2 35 6i.6i56 1 2 . 35 6i.6i56 __ ______ __ 1 2 . 35 6i.656i 656 1 2 . 3 5 6
Gong ( ) Kenong N Kempul P Kethuk + Kempyang - (sometimes "o") Kenong and Kempul together N/P (non-standard but handy: % )
Here are a couple of examples. The first is called Srepegan and is the title of a class of pieces in a similar, but not neccesarily identical form that features the colotominc instruments.
+ N + % + N + % + N + % + N + % + N + % + N + % 3 2 3 2 5 3 5 3 2 3 2 (1)
The second example is a piece called Pankur, and it is in Ladrang form. Don't worry, we'll get to what all these forms later. For now, just try to notice and identify the colotmic instruments that the symbols refer to.
- + - - + - N - + - P - + - N 3 2 3 1 3 2 1 6 1 6 3 2 5 3 2 1 - + - P - + - N - + - P - + - N 3 5 3 2 6 5 3 2 5 3 2 1 3 2 1 (6)