Space City Gamelan at TEDxHouston 2012
Space City Galan is an ancient Indonesian music style embodying community through the performance of multiple instruments, requiring participants to develop skills in listening, sensitivity, and finding shared resonance. The concept suggests that diverse individuals, regardless of musical experience, can collaborate to create beauty through music, practicing a form of "relationship harmony." The central example provided is the gong, from which all other instruments are tuned, symbolizing the foundational tuning of the entire group.
## Speakers & Context
- Member of Space City Galan group; presents the performance group and the music form.
- The speaker is part of a group representing *Space City Galan*.
- The group's members are diverse, spanning four decades in age and having varied day jobs (University professors, self-employed business owners, music industry workers, energy sector workers, graduate students).
## Theses & Positions
- Galan is described as the *"musical embodiment of community."*
- The performance itself serves as a model for practicing *"Harmony not just the musical kind but the relationship kind."*
- The essential skills for playing Galan are *"listening and being sensitive to one another,"* *"holding a rhythm against the counter rhythms of fellow players,"* and finding *"the flow and discovering the Resonance of self with others."*
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Galan:**
- An ancient style of music from Indonesia.
- Means *"Orchestra"* and also means *"to hammer"* because the music requires pummeling the bronze.
- The gong is the first instrument forged, and *every instrument* is tuned to its sound and tone, creating a *"family of instruments made and tuned together."*
- **Galan's principle:** Analogous to having multiple performers for every octave on a piano, making *"Galan... one instrument played by many people."*
- **Relationship Harmony:** The broader concept taught by the music, referring to interpersonal connection and mutual understanding.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Instrument Tuning:** The process starts with forging the gong, and subsequent instruments are tuned relative to the gong's pitch, linking the entire ensemble.
- **Learning Process:** Because prior musical experience is not required, a 50-year-old novice can learn and play a song with a 5-year-old novice in a very short amount of time.
- **Group Cohesion:** Music brings together people who otherwise might not socialize due to differing opinions on politics or leisure activities.
## Named Entities
- **Space City Galan:** The name of the performance/group.
- **Galan:** The music style.
- **Gatan:** Mentioned as the founder/master teacher (*Gat wandar*).
## Numbers & Data
- The current lineup spans **four decades** in age.
- The process of learning is demonstrated by the potential for a **50-year-old** and a **5-year-old** to learn together quickly.
## Examples & Cases
- **The Instrument Analogy:** A piano example is used: imagine taking an octave on the piano and giving *"each octave its own performer."*
- **The Gong Analogy:** The gong serves as the foundational instrument, setting the tone for tuning the entire family of instruments.
- **The Social Proof:** The current group members' diverse backgrounds include *"University at a professor at University self-employed business owners working in the music industry it the energy sector attending graduate school."*
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **Instruments:**
- **Gong:** The originating instrument.
- **Bronze:** The material the instruments are made from, requiring pummeling.
- **Piano:** Used as an analogy for octave division.
## References Cited
- None.
## Trade-offs & Alternatives
- None.
## Counterarguments & Caveats
- None.
## Methodology
- **Assessment Method:** The speaker invites the audience to judge the music by letting them know if the sound *"resonates"* with them.
- **Performance Structure:** The music is presented in distinct genres (e.g., acoustic trance, psychotropic jungle, lullab, heavy metal).
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- The primary takeaway is the value of collective participation through art to achieve *"Relationship Harmony"*—a model for community building.
- The core principle demonstrated is that *"Galan... is a way for us to practice Harmony... the relationship kind."*
## Implications & Consequences
- The ability to create music requires the skills of deep listening and mutual sensitivity, skills transferable to non-musical relationships.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"Space City Galan"*
- *"Galan is an ancient style of music from Indonesia"*
- *"Galan means Orchestra and it also means to hammer because to play the music we have to Pummel the bronze"*
- *"Galan is essentially the musical embodiment of community"*
- *"the Gong is the first instrument to be forged"*
- *"a 50-year-old who has never played music before can sit next to a 5-year-old who has never played this music before and they can both learn and play a song together in a very short amount of time"*
- *"Galan therefore is a way for us to practice Harmony not just the musical kind but the relationship kind"*
- *"the real skills required in playing Galan are listening and being sensitive to one another"*
- *"Master teacher and founding member Gat wandar"*