Western encounters with Indonesian Gamelan have historically operated under dubious ethnographic practices and reductive framings. Under a decolonial perspective, this artistic-research (AR) project critically reassesses this heritage through the medium of the piano. A symbol of western culture and a technological artefact embodying wider social relations, the piano is an ideal site for this inquiry. Through piano preparation (PPREP) — a technique altering pitch and timbre of strings through inserted objects — I integrate Indonesian gamelan tuning systems on the piano and move beyond its established use in notated music repertoire. PPREP asks how musical instruments encode larger cultural practices and how their material modification might affect such practices through practice-based AR. Two aims are pursued: (1) establishing PPREP as a technique for realising gamelan intonations on the piano; (2) articulating PPREP as an epistemically accountable tool when working with Gamelan in AR. Developing PPREP in cross-cultural and improvised musical contexts, these aims are completed through scholarly publications, artistic practice, archival stays and collaborations with Gamelan Ensembles in Europe and Indonesia. The output combines databases of PPREP methods, ethical guidelines for artistic fieldwork, compositions and collaborations with Gamelan Ensembles across Europe and Indonesia.
Credit picture: Justine Wolfs