Indonesia's Tin Pan Alley - Tihingan in Bali

The Essay

'Be not afeard. The isle is full of noises, Sounds, and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not. Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments Will hum about mine ears...'

There is an idea that what Caliban is describing is gamelan music, and that Shakespeare had heard accounts of it as he wrote The Tempest from sailors who had recently returned from a voyage to the Spice Islands - Indonesia.

The village of Tihingan in Bali is full of noises because the chief occupation there is making gongs for gamelans, the wonderful gong orchestras of Bali and Java. Ade Mardiyati, a journalist who reports for the BBC's Indonesian service, visits Tihingan - Indonesia's Tin Pan Alley - the learn about the craft. Two crucial skills are involved; that of the smith who forges the gongs, and that , the tuner who works them to ensure they give the right note. In a sonically rich essay, recorded while these masters work, Ade explores the past, present and future of gamelan making, and music.

Presenter: Ade Mardiyati Producer: Julian May