User Manual
43A User’s Guide to Garritan World Instruments
e Music and Instruments of Australia & Oceania
From the island continent of Australia to the small Polynesian and Hawaiian Islands, the music of the
Pacic is as great in scope as it is in geography.
e music of Indonesia reects the diversity of its more than 17,000 islands. e most popular and
well-known form of Indonesian music is Gamelan, which means orchestra in Balinese, and repre-
sents the traditional music ensemble of Indonesia. e instruments in a Gamelan ensemble include
a variety of tuned instruments including metallophones, bamboo utes (suling), xylophones, drums,
gongs, and chimes. Java and Bali have distinctive Gamelan ensembles. Balinese Gamelan is often
faster and more dramatic and intense, whereas Javanese Gamelan is more mellow and contemplative.
e distinctive ethereal sound of the Gamelan can be attributed to the dierences in tuning between
instruments while playing interweaving patterns.
e music of Hawaii is associated with a popular dance, known as the hula, and chant (mele). e
chant (mele) is typically accompanied by an ipu heke (a double gourd). Hula dance is often accom-
panied by the ipu (single gourd), kala`au (rhythm sticks) and Kaekeeke (long bamboo sticks). e
ukulele, a small guitar-like instrument, was brought to the Hawaiian Islands by Portuguese explorers.
e ukulele later became the instrument most associated with Hawaiian music.