#$XXXXX!/#*$ - KSHHHHHK2 (Gamelan Bengkel)

 

#$XXXXX!/#*$ is a series of releases between 2021 and 2023 investigating the translation of embodied musical timing across digital mediums and genres. Releases include work for hardware electronics, IDM, MIDI-based gamelan, handmade instruments, and harsh noise, embedded in the musical context of pandemic-era Denpasar, Bali.

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For this second release, I built a gamelan-influenced instrument from scrap metal, wooden planks, and contact microphones for improvisation. After previously experimenting with hybrid genre via vocal improv and MIDI translation, I tested a similar language by improvising with mallets, hands, and iron, via distortion and amplification. I was curious to see how much of my gamelan technique would emerge, as well as how ideas with less gamelan influence would sound if played via this instrument. This was also an experiment with returning ideas developed in an electronic context to physical tools. 

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These pieces were each recorded in one take with only light editing. The work was initially released in late 2021 and performed at several underground shows hosted by Chaos Non Musica during the same period. The instrument later gained a second life as part of Pierre Alvian's Sanglah Slayer noise project.

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Many thanks to Kim for access to workshop facilities (which is where the "bengkel" in the title comes from), and to Erlangga and Rio for storing the instrument between its two lives.