On Thursday, November 1, 2016, I attended World Percussion Night at Bowling Green State University. This musical event took place at 8:00 PM in Kobacker Hall located inside the Moore Musical Arts Center. World Percussion Night featured multiple styles including performances by the Kusuma Sari Balinese Gamelan, Afro-Caribbean, Hayabusa, and Kaze No Daichi Taiko ensembles. As I entered the building, I was anxious to see what I would endure at this concert. Not only had I never been to a musical performance of any kind throughout the duration of my time here at Bowling Green State University, but I had never witnessed just a percussion ensemble play before either. The first ensemble and the one that I wish to discuss was called Kusuma Sari Balinese Gamelan.
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Their performance at World Percussion Night consisted of three compositions: Beleganjur, Tari Telek, and Baris. These three songs are considered to be traditional Balinese gamelan pieces. In transitions between songs, I noticed that the instrumentalists switched positions to play a different instrument each time. During each song, I found it interesting that the director played an instrument along with the rest of the ensemble instead of standing on a podium and conducting like I am used to seeing at a musical concert. The director sat on the stage floor facing the other instrumentalists playing a small type of drum, or membranophone. Four other instrumentalists sat on the stage floor facing the audience and three other instrumentalists stood up to play their instrument. I noticed that all of the performers seemed to bob their heads along with the beat of the song instead of tapping their foot. Additionally, I was impressed to observe that there was so sign of sheet music in sight which means that parts of the music were memorized or
Their performance at World Percussion Night consisted of three compositions: Beleganjur, Tari Telek, and Baris. These three songs are considered to be traditional Balinese gamelan pieces. In transitions between songs, I noticed that the instrumentalists switched positions to play a different instrument each time. During each song, I found it interesting that the director played an instrument along with the rest of the ensemble instead of standing on a podium and conducting like I am used to seeing at a musical concert. The director sat on the stage floor facing the other instrumentalists playing a small type of drum, or membranophone. Four other instrumentalists sat on the stage floor facing the audience and three other instrumentalists stood up to play their instrument. I noticed that all of the performers seemed to bob their heads along with the beat of the song instead of tapping their foot. Additionally, I was impressed to observe that there was so sign of sheet music in sight which means that parts of the music were memorized or