Ok. So, I know that I am going to be living in Taiwan for the next year and as such, I should probably try to immerse myself in the culture as much as I could, but… I can’t live without playing in a gamelan. The past four years I have studied in the gamelan at my college (except for one semester when I was living in Beijing and was going to start studying the erhu, but alas, SARS kicked in and I was gently pushed over the Pacific back to the good ole US of A). So, my question is, does anyone know of an active gamelan group in Taipei? I have searched the forums, but found nothing, and it is very hard doing a search for it on google. My professor does not know of any, but I am hopeful that there is at least one group in residency. I would prefer Balinese Gamelan Gong Kebyar, but beggars can’t be choosers, so even a Javanese Gamelan will work.
Thanks a lot.
Oh yeah, if no one knows of any, any suggestions on where to get a cheap erhu and lessons?
Ooh…ooh…I don’t know of a group, but if you have any recordings of yourself playing, I’d LOVE to have some to listen to! I bought some tapes when I was in Bali but unfortunately didn’t have the time to get everything I would have liked. I greatly enjoyed the gamelan music I encountered and had the good fortune to attend a rehearsal of the women’s group in Ubud about a week before the big cremation last month. If I were in Taipei I’d ask you for lessons! But I’m not…
I don’t have any recordings of myself playing (there are videos in existence, but my prof has them all). I do have several CDs and tapes which I could possibly copy or rip onto my computer, if you want. Where are you? I am still in the states so it might be better to send you copies now.
I had just missed a major ceremony when I was there earlier this month. Absolutely fell in love with the music. I have a short video recording of some Legong dancers that I burned onto a VCD, but I’m sure everyone makes something like that when they go to Bali.