The results of the survey indicate that the typical Minneapolis Gamelan participant is of European descent and identifies with a western European ethnicity. They have had a great deal of experience studying/performing western music which averaged about fifteen years. Most had been in the group since its inception in 1995. There was about a twenty percent chance that they had been to Indonesia, although they were probably familiar with gamelan before they went. If they had been to Indonesia, they had probably studied gamelan on Java. The Schubert Club gamelan was probably not their first experience with gamelan. They are probably most surprised and pleased with how playing in the gamelan can be both a calming, simple form of artistic expression, but at the same time becomes more complex and fascinating as they learn more about it. Memorizing the music and “patterns” is difficult for them. However, when asked on a scale of one to ten how much they rely on written music versus their aural knowledge they rate themselves a five, yielding an apparent contradiction.

Tradition and transplantation
They come for the community and the love of the music. I believe the common cultural lexicon is very significant when trying to understand the students. Since most have not been to Indonesia, there is very little firsthand knowledge of gamelan music in its “traditional” environment. The instructor, however, comes from this traditional environment, both geographically and ethnically. The instructor’s expectations are not the same as someone who had come directly from the Indonesian conservatory system to teach in the United States. As he mentioned in his interview, Sutrisno explained that if he had the same expectations of his students that were made of him at the conservatory, then he probably would not have any students.

Since the instructor comes with the idea that the dynamics of this group are not the same as a typical Indonesian group, what a gamelan is and how it works seems to have almost completely changed from its traditional environment. Not for the positive or negative; just different. Therefore, there is no attempt to try to create an “authentic” group, according to a measure of authenticity that never was, is not, and never will be. What has been created is a new way of coming together across cultural and racial boundaries, starting something uniquely suited to the group because it is being created on the fly by the group. In other words, there is no attempt to fit the square musical peg into a round hole of traditional musical expectations. This can be seen in how and what the group learns and rehearses. While Joko teaches them traditional Javanese pieces, he uses written notation so the students can learn more music, faster. Also, besides traditional Javanese compositions he lets some of the more advanced students write compositions of their own for the gamelan. Many students even use non-traditional Javanese instruments—everything from an electric guitar to conch shells.

The gamelan community
On one of the several Sunday evenings when I came to watch the performing ensemble rehearse, I was sitting down getting my notebook out when a member of the group handed me a baby to hold. I don’t hold babies. This one wasn’t even old enough yet to sit up by itself. An only child, I think I’ve held a baby only one other time in my life. Disregarding my obvious fear and trepidation, the gamelan member still just handed me the baby. What is important is the understanding of community by the group. Being someone trained in western music and who has played in countless ensembles, I was perhaps most shocked at how the group never seemed to argue. There were disagreements as any form of constructive music making has, however, it remained constructive.

I was just someone who came to observe and learn, yet I felt like I was part of the community. People don’t hand their children to people they don’t feel comfortable with. Feeling this kind of trust as an outsider I can only infer the aura of community and trust that must exude from the group. I think the community is what makes this group work—in both concrete and abstract ways. Gamelan is the kind of music, as the respondents mentioned in the survey, that requires one to let go of their individuality and trust the rest of the ensemble enough to heartfully believe that their individual part will work with the rest of the group. This is what I believe makes this group successful. The gamelan program at the Schubert Club in Minneapolis, Minnesota is one of a only a handful of gamelan programs in the United States that exist outside the realm of an institute of higher learning, especially anywhere outside the state of California. It is a great asset to the music life of Minneapolis.

Acknowledgements
Finally, I would like to thank all the members of the gamelan for their time and patience with me, Holly Windle and everyone else from the Schubert club who helped me, and especially Joko Sustrino who generously gave me his time and access to his group.

-Michael Sedki