Celempungan is named for the celempung, a bamboo tube zither from West Java.
[2] In modern celempungan ensembles, the celempung may be replaced by the siter, kacapi, and kendang.
[3] Dutch ethnomusicologist Jaap Kunst described celempungan in his 1973 book Music in Java: "The chelempung-orchestra (ill. 131) is fortunate in being widely-spread.
The name is derived from the idiochord bamboo instruments, which are found in it in two different functions, i.e., as kendang and as ketuk.
The other instruments in this combination—another essential element of which seems to be a female voice—are: rebab, suling, goong awi, and—not always, however—a kachapi.