WEAPONS OF THE SHADOW PUPPETS

[David]

Well personally i love gamelan music (and hate Pavarotti) and can listen to it just about anytime. It does something to my psyche that i just cannot explain.
As for wayang, i have only seen short bits of a few performances, though the shortness of my exposure was not due to boredom, but rather because i had other pressing matters to attend to. Personally i don't find any need to fully understand wayang to enjoy it, but i guess i'm funny that way...

[A. G. Maisey]

Gamelan has the undoubted ability to do something to my psyche too, David.

Especially when it is played at a wedding, and it continues non-stop for two days and nights, and you're laying in a sweat soaked bed trying to get to sleep.

By about 4am on the first night you feel like going and committing murder.

But then the Perang Mesjid starts, with the call to morning prayer from 6 or 8 mesjids within hearing range, all trying to outdo the others in volume and aggressiveness. So that night is a write-off.

By 4am on the second night you no longer have the mental capacity nor physical strength to commit murder.

On the third day you sleep all day.

Almost anything that is a bit out of the ordinary and exotic can be entertaining or amusing for a short time, but living up close and personal very often takes a major change in orientation.

However, yeah, sure, depending upon what the piece is, gamelan can be OK in limited doses, but try remembering a gamelan theme or melody. I cannot, and I've played music now for 60 years.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Gamelan has the undoubted ability to do something to my psyche too, David.

Especially when it is played at a wedding, and it continues non-stop for two days and nights, and you're laying in a sweat soaked bed trying to get to sleep.

By about 4am on the first night you feel like going and committing murder.

But then the Perang Mesjid starts, with the call to morning prayer from 6 or 8 mesjids within hearing range, all trying to outdo the others in volume and aggressiveness. So that night is a write-off.

By 4am on the second night you no longer have the mental capacity nor physical strength to commit murder.

On the third day you sleep all day.

Almost anything that is a bit out of the ordinary and exotic can be entertaining or amusing for a short time, but living up close and personal very often takes a major change in orientation.

However, yeah, sure, depending upon what the piece is, gamelan can be OK in limited doses, but try remembering a gamelan theme or melody. I cannot, and I've played music now for 60 years.