Gamelan for "gamelan" is gangsa, formed either from the words "tembaga" and "rejasa" referring to the materials used in bronze gamelan construction (copper and tin), or "tiga" and "sedasa" referring to their proportions (three and ten). The gamelan predates the Hindu-Buddhist culture that dominated Indonesia in its earliest records and thus represents an indigenous art form. In contrast to the heavy Indian influence in other art forms, the only obvious Indian influence in gamelan music is in the Javanese style of singing, and in the themes of the Wayang kulit (shadow puppet plays). In Javanese mythology, the gamelan was created by
Gamelan notation continues to cause practical difficulties. • Downloadable Kepatihan font for Mac and IBM Gamelan notation Notation plays a relatively minor role in the oral traditions of Indonesian gamelan but, in Java and Bali, several systems of gamelan notation were devised beginning at the end of the 19th century, initially for archival purposes. Kepatihan is a type of cipher musical notation that was devised for notation of the Indonesian gamelan. The system was devised around 1900 at the "Kepatihan" (the Grand Vizier's compound) in Surakarta, and was based upon the Galin-Paris-Chevé system, imported in the nineteenth century by Christian missionaries to