Angin Listrik

Angin Listrik is "electrical storm" in the Indonesian language. It was commissioned by the University of California Santa Cruz gamelan Semar Pegulingan, an old type of gamelan from the island of Bali. This type of gamelan is named for the god of love because of its function accompanying romantic evenings in the old Balinese courts. Unlike the more modern forms of Balinese gamelan, it has seven tones, from which this piece, like some in Bali, derives different pentatonic modes. Although performed tonight on the Javanese instruments of the American Gamelan, every part still fits in this musical community through precisely interlocking melodies. The strings of the guitars have been retuned to match the pitches of the gamelan.

Recorded on Guitars & Gamelan .