Gamelan refers to a set of predominantly percussion instruments including tuned gongs, metal-keyed instruments, and drums (as well as bowed lute and voice). Gamelan music is played as accompaniment to dance, drama, puppet theater, and martial arts, as well as for concerts of listening music. Gamelan is performed for special occasions and to mark important life cycle events. The University of Pittsburgh gamelan owns two gamelan sets. The second set of instruments, which arrived in March, 2005, is named “Ligar Pasundan” (“Fragrance of Pasundan”). This gamelan is tuned to laras degung (a five-tone tuning system made up of large and small intervals). A typical gamelan degung comprises seven instruments: bonang; jengglong (6 tuned hanging gongs); goong/kempul (2 hanging gongs); panerus (metal-keyed instrument); peking (metal-keyed instrument); kendang (set of 3 drums); and suling (bamboo flute). A gambang (xylophone) and kacapi (zither) are also common nowadays. Unlike the Sundanese gamelan salendro, music for gamelan degung is more heterophonic; that is, the musicians realize one main melody in different ways. The majority of instruments (bonang, panerus, peking, and suling) are all played in a heterophonic manner. The jengglong and goong/kempul are used to punctuate the melody, and the kendang functions as a time-keeping instrument. Gamelan degung was created for local Sundanese regents (bupati) of West Java during the early 20th century. These regents administered the Dutch cultivation system (Cultuurstelsel) for the province of West Java. The cultivation system provided that a village set aside a fifth of its cultivable land for the production of export crops (primarily tea and coffee in West Java). These crops were to be delivered to the government in lieu of tax. Regents promoted the performing arts for the entertainment of their family and other aristocrats of the Dutch colonial state. In its classic form (pre-independence) gamelan degung is entirely instrumental.

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