Gamelan notation ladder-like vertical staff allowed notation of the balungan by dots and also included important drum strokes. "Kepatihan" is widely used in ethnomusicological studies of the gamelan, sometimes accompanied by transcriptions into Western staff notation with approximate mapping of slendro and pelog tuning systems of gamelan onto the western staff, with and without various symbols for microtones. The relative merits of "kepatihan" and staff notation are sometimes debated, but staff notation is essentially incompatible with the 'end-weighted' nature of melodic structures in Indonesian music. In this respect, "kepatihan" is more suitable, although the usage of overscores (taken from the Galin-Paris-Chevé system)
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;