Gamelan for 18 Musicians?

       The melody is presented in both pieces very similarly in which the melody is the small repeated ostinato ‘cell’ pattern, which is then layered by other instruments and vocal parts. The melody is not a ‘true’ melody in the sense of a musical phrase but it is instead repeated in  ‘cells’, as it is referred to in minimalist music. In Music for 18 Musicians, this ‘melodic’ line can be seen in the Marimba and Piano lines in the image above. In essence, this pattern is repeated until the end of part I, every part, that is, whenever a part is realized, it is completely in eighth notes. Music for 18 Musicians is in A major, and is in ¼ meter to further reinforce the constant moving eighth notes.

       In Lelambatan Tabuh Ding, this ‘cell’ is presented by a longer melody that can be heard from 0:10 to 0:22, and is then repeated over and over again, illustrating how one can derive the use of the term ‘cell’ to describe the melodic structure.

     However, in Lelambatan Tabuh Ding, this line is presented through passages of altering tempo, and in Music for 18 Musicians, the eighth note pattern has no variation in tempo. That is, in Part I. The recording provided here is solely of Part I to prevent confusion.