Angklung from Indonesia

The Angklung got more international attention when Daeng Soetigna, from Bandung, West Java, expanded the angklung notations not only to play traditional pélog or sléndro scales, but also diatonic scale in 1938. Since then, angklung is often played together with other western music instruments in an orchestra. One of the first well-known performances of angklung in an orchestra was during the Bandung Conference in 1955. A few years later, Udjo Ngalagena, a student of Daeng Soetigna, opened his "Saung Angklung" (House of Angklung) in 1966 as centre of its development.

In Bali, an ensemble of angklung is called gamelan angklung (anklung). While the ensemble gets its name from the bamboo shakers, these days most compositions for Gamelan Angklung do not use them. An ensemble of mostly bronze metallophones is used instead.

While the instrumentation of gamelan angklung is similar to gamelan gong kebyar, it has several critical differences. First, the instruments are tuned to a 5-tone slendro scale, though actually most ensembles use a four-tone mode of the five-tone scale (an exception would be five-tone angklung from the north of Bali.) Secondly, whereas many of the instruments in gong kebyar span multiple octaves of its pentatonic scale, gamelan angklung instruments only contain one octave, though some five-tone ensembles have roughly an octave and a half. The instruments are often considerably smaller, and hence more portable when used in cremation rituals. The musicians often play in a procession as the funeral bier is carried from the cemetery to the cremation site, in addition to playing music to accompany the ceremony.

Something unique...

Batik has been both an art and a craft for centuries. In Java, Indonesia, batik is part of an ancient tradition, and some of the finest batik cloth in the world is still made there.
Contemporary batik, while owing much to the past, is markedly different from the more traditional and formal styles. For example, the artist may use etching, discharge dyeing, stencils, different tools for waxing and dyeing, wax recipes with different resist values and work with silk, cotton, wool, leather, paper or even wood and ceramics.

Melted wax (Javanese: malam) is applied to cloth before being dipped in dye. It is common for people to use a mixture of beeswax and paraffin wax. The beeswax will hold to the fabric and the paraffin wax will allow cracking, which is a characteristic of batik. Wherever the wax has seeped through the fabric, the dye will not penetrate. Sometimes several colours are used, with a series of dyeing, drying and waxing steps.

Thin wax lines are made with a canting (also spelled tjanting or tjunting; IPA: [tʃantɪŋ]), a wooden handled tool with a tiny metal cup with a tiny spout, out of which the wax seeps. Other methods of applying the wax onto the fabric include pouring the liquid wax, painting the wax on with a brush, and applying the hot wax to pre-carved wooden or metal wire block (called a cap or tjap; IPA: [tʃap]) and stamping the fabric.

After the last dyeing, the fabric is hung up to dry. Then it is dipped in a solvent to dissolve the wax, or ironed between paper towels or newspapers to absorb the wax and reveal the deep rich colors and the fine crinkle lines that give batik its character. This traditional method of batik making is called Batik Tulis (lit: 'Written Batik').

The invention of the copper block or cap developed by the Javanese in the 20th century revolutionized batik production. By block printing the wax onto the fabric, it became possible to make high quality designs and intricate patterns much faster than one could possibly do by hand-painting. This method of using copper block to applied melted wax pattern is called Batik Cap (pronounced like "chop").

Indonesian batik used for clothing normally has an intricate pattern. Traditionally, wider curves were reserved for batik produced for nobles. The traditional cloth has natural colors (tones of indigo and brown) while contemporary pieces have more variety of color.

Javanese batik typically includes symbols. Some decorative pieces may be mystically-influenced, and this type is very rarely used for clothing. Some may carry illustrations of animals or other intricate designs.

From : wikipedia - Indonesia