Gamelan gong kebyar and, "loosely constructed," at the beginning of the 20th century but became increasingly standardized. The music is divided into 4 beat groups, this whole rhythmic cycle is called the gongan. The gongs divide gongan into sections, gong ageng, the largest gong, marks the end of gongan, the smaller gongs mark the 4th or 8th beat and the smallest gongs outline the pulse. Gamelan gong kebyar Gamelan gong kebyar is a style or genre of Balinese gamelan music. "Kebyar" means "the process of flowering", and refers to the explosive changes in tempo and dynamics characteristic of the style. It is the
Gamelan outside Indonesia instruction by a community arts organization, which gave its first performance in May 1978. The organization incorporated in 1980 as Friends of the Gamelan and continues to perform with two central Javanese gamelan sets that it has acquired. Many schools, universities and other institutions in North America own sets of gamelan instruments. These gamelans are typically played by mixed-gender groups of students, a practice that is rare in Indonesia for religious reasons. Among the earliest such groups were Wesleyan University and UCLA. Established institutional gamelan ensembles in the U.S. include Gamelan Nyai Saraswati at University of North Carolina at Chapel