KOTEKAN

Broadly speaking, kotekan implies the interlocking of two or more instruments in the ensemble. This could be simple like playing between each other's strokes but generally refers to syncopated patterns where the pattern includes pulses where only one instrument plays and pulses where the pair play harmonious tones (e.g., approximating a western fifth); collectively the instruments usually provide a continuous stream of sound.

Generally, the sum of the polos and sangsih parts will be several times faster than the pokok. Also, sometimes the collective sum of the polos and sangsih will establish the direction of the movement of the pokok.

The pattern of the higher pitched instrument (pengisep) is termed polos and the pattern of the lower pitched instrument (pengumbang) is termed sangsih. Generally many pairs of instruments are simultaneously involved; for example, two pair of pemade, one pair of kantil, and the reyong; the polos and sangsih patterns played by each pair must be carefully related to that played by the other paired instruments. The damping for the pemade, kantil, and reyong must be severe; that is, whenever an instrument is not playing, it must be damped so that its note does not interfere the note created by the other member of the pair.

The polos pattern is generally on-beat; the sangsih pattern is generally off-beat. In many kotekan the polos coincides with important structural points like the point at which the gong is struck.The leadership for the parts is provided by the lanang (for polos) and wadon (for sangsih) drums.

KOTEKAN EXAMPLES - KOTEKAN EMPAT, KOTEKAN TELU, KOTEKAN NJOG CAK, and ONCANG-ONCANG.

Kotekan Empat: This is a fast rippling pattern; the players are organized as follows (Jones, 1992):

1. Each pair of players use four adjacent pitches between them(in the following example 3, 5, 6 and 1).
2. One player plays two adjacent pitches (6 and 1) and the other plays the other adjacent pitches (3 and 5).
3. The outer pair of pitches (3 and 1) are always played together and form an approximate western 5th.
4. The other pitches (5 and 6) are played on their own.

The players may not have rests together; that is, there is a continuous stream of sounds for these forms. However, three of the 9 forms allow a momentary rest (Ornstein, p. 253).

The earlier described Topeng Dance is one such kotekan:

           (G)  P       P   G
6   5   1   6   1   5   6   3   
.35.35.35.35.3.53.53.53.53.53.53 Polos
61.61.61.61.6.6.16.16.16.16.16.1 Sangsih

Here is an alternative Kotekan for Topeng:

           (G)  P       P   G
6   5   1   6   1   5   6   3   
.23.23.23.32.3.23.23.23.23.23.32 Polos
61.6.16.161.616.16.16.16.16.1.1. Sangsih

Note that it is not necessary to keep the same kotekan for the entire gongan as switches can be made mid-stream (Vitale). For example, the two above patterns could be switched after the (G).

Kotekan Telu: Here is an alternative to kotekan empat that needs only three adjacent pitches. One player gets the low and middle pitch while the other gets the middle and high pitch. The middle pitch is shared and always must be simultaneously played by both instruments. All pulses must be filled with sounds from one or both instruments.

           (G)  P       P   G
6   5   1   6   1   5   6   3 
5.56.5.6.56.6.565.56.5.6 56.65.6 Polos
535.353.35.3.35.535.353.35.3.53. Sangsih

This kotekan cannot be played on the reyong since it require the simultaneous striking of notes.

Kotekan Njog Cak: This kotekan has the following rules (Ornstein, pp. 227-234):

1. The polos plays on the 1st and 3rd pulse.
2. The sangsih plays on the 2nd and 4th pulse.
3. The pulse that corresponds to the pokok are often the same pitch as the pokok, particularly at important structural points in the pokok.
4. The pattern of intervening pulses should, if possible, indicate the direction of the pokok change and may be disjunct some of the time.

This is a section (pulses 25 to 32 of the 48 in the pengipuk gongan, where the dancers flirts with the drummer) of Teruna Jaya which uses Kotekan Njog Cak(Vitale):

6   5   3   5   3   2   3   5
5.2.5.i.5.2.5.2.1.6.2.5.5.3.5.i. Polos
.6.6.3.3.6.6.3.3.1.6.5.1.3.6.3.3 Sangsih

As variation on the above requires sangsih to always be above or adjacent to polos except where they meet in unison (then both play). It can only be used with a pokok that has repeated pokok notes like those of Tabuh Condong (Ornstein, p. 235).

Oncang-oncang:: Earlier it was noted that for pieces like the third portion of Penyembrama:

   P   M   P   G
 6 5 3 2 1 6 3 2

There can also be repeated patterns where the pokok note is embedded. That is, a pattern like: (2b,3(b+1,b)) can be used for each note of the pokok. For example, the 7th note of the pokok (5) is replaced with the phrase 55656565 where the 4th note (5) of the phrase coincides with the pokok 5. This pattern can also be interlocked with the polos being played as 55.5.5.5 and the sangsih played as 556.6.6. This Oncang-oncang pattern can be thought of as a simple kotekan.

Kotekan can be mixed within the same piece. It is important to note that with more recent compositions, the above rules may not hold. In some pieces, the polos and sangsih may not be interlocked (McPhee, 1966, p.333). Also, the 4 player reyong may use 4 differing parts rather than two players doing the same polos while the other two do the same sangsih (McPhee, 1966, p. 341). The pokok can even disappear.

GENERAL MUSICAL APPROACH

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Updated April 5, 1996.