Colotomy

Colotomy is an Indonesian description of the rhythmic and metric patterns of gamelan music.

The English language term was coined, presumably in Dutch,[4] from the Greek for a unit of rhythm (colon) and something that divides (-tomy/-tomic),[5] by the ethnomusicologist Jaap Kunst.

Gendhing (also written, as in the old orthography, gending) can also be used to refer to a specific class of colotomic structures used in Javanese gamelan music.

[8] More clearly, "gongs of different sizes are used to mark off circular segments, or cycles, of musical time.

"[9] Though a colotomic structure may be hundreds of units long and is generally explicitly stated, it is akin to hierarchical Western meter.

[9] Most gendhing in Javanese music conform to one of these structures, except for some special ceremonial pieces and experimental new compositions.

There are two patterns for the kethuk in the merong, arang ("infrequent, sparse") and kerep ("frequent").

In the minggah section, the kempyang and kethuk play in the same pattern as in the ketawang, but with no other interpunctuating instruments.

Obviously, in a long structure like that, especially at a slow tempo, a single gongan may last many minutes.

Typically it has the length of one nongan, and a contrasting balungan melody to the merong.

Some lancaran have a separate section which can be played between repetitions of the four-gong ompak, known as the nyekar or lagu.

Bubaran are played more moderately, usually in irama tanggung, but are usually written in balungan mlaku.

The basic colotomic structure is a cycle of 32 beats (keteg) in the following order: where p indicates the strike of the kempyang, T the ketuk, P the kempul, N the kenong, and G the simultaneous stroke of the gong ageng and kenong.

[11] The ladrang is similar to the ketawang except that four (instead of two) nongan comprise a gongan.

[11] In Javanese gamelan music, there are a few gendhing structures derived from the wayang repertoire: Ayak-ayakan, Sampak, and Srepeg.

The colotomic structure is: with both lines played together, and T indicating a stroke of the kethuk, P the kempul, and N the kenong.

The ending (suwuk) can occur at different points in the cycle, given the cue from the kendhang or kepyak.

The colotomic structure is: with both lines played together, and T indicating a stroke of the kethuk, P the kempul, and N the kenong.

The ending (suwuk) can occur at any point in the cycle, given the cue from the kendhang or kepyak, and consists of a gatra played after the gong.

The melodic shape of a sampak is distinctive, as the gatras are repeated notes in the pathet.

The signal to end can come at any gong, where the player plays the next two notes as normal, and then 22 (as indicated by xx22).

Srepeg is another colotomic structure: with both lines played together, and T indicating a stroke of the kethuk, P the kempul, and N the kenong.

The ending (suwuk) can occur at any point in the cycle, given the cue from the kendhang or kepyak.

The melodic shape of a srepeg is distinctive, as it consists mostly of the seleh alternating with a neighbor tone.