Gamelan outside Indonesia gave a new impetus to the performance of gamelan and Javanese dance in the Netherlands. Together with Mr and Mrs Ronosuripto, the Amsterdam Gamelan group played many concerts and performances with Javanese dance and shadow puppetry (wayang kulit). Rien Baartmans, who as a child had been taking lessons from Bernard IJzerdraat, studied wayang and kendhang with Pak Ripto, which very much stimulated his own group Ngesthi Raras in Haarlem. In 1978 the new gamelan society Naga, founded by Rob van Albada, acquired a gamelan from Solo. This gamelan was used by several groups, performing traditional and modern music for gamelan.
Gamelan Surakarta bonang panembung. A typical performance ensemble includes a female vocal soloist (pesinden) and male chorus (gerongan); in certain passages, the singers clap rhythmically (keplok). In Yogyakarta, there is a tendency to have more sarons of each register and it is more likely that the bonang panembung will be present. An archaic instrument, the celuring, a set of struck bells is found only on a few gamelan in the Yogyakarta Kraton and is played in place of the saron panerus. The Solonese style is often considered more refined (or "alus") than Yogyanese style. One specific difference is in saron peking playing;