{"id":266,"date":"2017-01-13T13:54:11","date_gmt":"2017-01-13T13:54:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/gamelan\/?page_id=266"},"modified":"2018-02-19T21:33:43","modified_gmt":"2018-02-19T21:33:43","slug":"k-k-mikatsih","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/gamelan\/k-k-mikatsih\/","title":{"rendered":"K.K. Mikatsih"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acquired:<\/strong> during the Reign of Sultan Hamengku Buwana VII
\nType of Gamelan:<\/strong> common practice–modernized
\nTuning:<\/strong>\u00a0p\u00e9log<\/em><\/p>\n

\"medharsih\"<\/a>
One of the three gend\u00e8r barung<\/em> of the gamelan pair K.K. Medharsih and K.K. Mikatsih as they currently appear. New, matched casings were made for these gamelans in the early 1980s.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

K.K. Mikatsih\u00a0(“tempting love”), according to palace sources, entered palace circles during the reign of the Seventh Sultan (reign 1877-1921), though it is believed he procured this gamelan p\u00e9log<\/em> while still the Crown Prince (therefore prior to 1877, during the reign of the Sixth Sultan).[1]<\/abbr> It is not known if this gamelan was newly commissioned or already of some age at the time, but due to a\u00a0feature of its instruments it would appear K.K. Mikatsih\u00a0originated in the cultural sphere of the Surakarta Kingdom rather than in Yogyakarta (more on this in the next paragraph). One of the garwa padmi<\/em> (primary wives) of the Sixth Sultan, G.K.R. Kencono, was a daughter of the Eighth King of Surakarta (Susuhunan Paku Buwana VIII),[2]<\/abbr> so perhaps K.K. Mikatsih\u00a0came to the Yogyakarta court with her and was assigned for use at Kadipat\u00e8n, the residence of the Crown Prince. Kadipat\u00e8n, at that time, was located outside of the palace proper (just to the west), and it is probably there that it remained, used for the ceremonial and entertainment needs of successive Crown Princes, until sometime in the 20th century. But since the Crown Prince with whom this gamelan was first associated would later become the Seventh Sultan, it is with this sultan that K.K. Mikatsih\u00a0is most strongly associated. It is not clear to me when K.K. Mikatsih\u00a0was physically relocated from Kadipat\u00e8n to the palace proper, but I first saw it and its associated gamelan sl\u00e9ndro<\/em> K.K. Medharsih\u00a0undergoing their modernization process in late 1982. In early 1983 they began being used on a regular basis inside the palace for uyon-uyon<\/em> Hadiluhung preparation and broadcasts, for the accompaniment of dance and dance drama performances celebrating important dates in the palace calendar, and for performances directed toward the general pubic and to tourists visiting the palace.<\/p>\n

When I first encountered this gamelan the finishing touches to its modernization were being made. I did not see it prior to this transformation, but according to a palace inventory dating from the 1940s[3]<\/abbr> it had at that time a pre-modern common practice gamelan p\u00e9log instrumentation: two\u00a0gend\u00e8r barung<\/em>, one gambang gangsa<\/em>, two\u00a0gambang kayu<\/em>, one each of all three sizes of bonang<\/em>, a two\u00a0saron demung<\/em> and four\u00a0saron ricik<\/em>, one slentho<\/em>, one kethuk<\/em>, one kempyang<\/em>, one kenong jaler<\/em>, one kenong japan<\/em>, one kempul<\/em>, two gong ageng<\/em>, one kendhang ageng<\/em>, and one kendhang ketipung<\/em>. The modernization of this set during the reign of the Ninth Sultan added the following: one saron peking<\/em>, one clempung<\/em>, one gend\u00e8r panembung<\/em>, two\u00a0gend\u00e8r penerus<\/em>, five\u00a0kenong jaler<\/em>, five\u00a0kempul<\/em>, and three gong siyem.<\/em>[4]<\/abbr> At the time these instrumentation changes were being effected, the two sets also underwent significant re-tunings in order to make them more musically functional as a paired set. Perhaps because these two sets have been used as a unified sl\u00e9ndro-p\u00e9log<\/em> pair since their updating, only two of their combined four gong ageng<\/em> are needed when they are now used<\/a>. At least one of the original two gong ageng<\/em> of K.K. Mikatsih\u00a0has been reallocated to the gamelan p\u00e9log<\/em> K.K. Panji<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As mentioned above, there is a\u00a0feature of this set that strongly suggests that it originated from the Surakarta region rather than Yogyakarta. The relative size of the individual gongs of the bonang barung<\/em> and bonang penerus<\/em> of K.K. Mikatsih\u00a0is noticeably smaller than those of all other palace gamelans with the exception of K.K. Marikangen<\/a>. This relative size difference of bonang<\/em> kettles is a, albeit very general, distinction that is made between Solonese (from Surakarta) and Yogyanese gamelans. No other Kraton Yogyakarta common practice gamelan p\u00e9log shares this\u00a0feature with K.K. Mikatsih, which suggests to me that this set may have entered the kraton<\/em> as a royal gift from Surakarta.<\/p>\n

Prior to their modernization, the primary color of the casings of K.K. Mikatsih\u00a0was light\u00a0red (abrit nem<\/em>) and that of the gamelan sl\u00e9ndro with which it was being paired, K.K. Medharsih, was dark\u00a0red (abrit sepuh<\/em>)<\/a>.[5]<\/abbr> They were given the same shade of dark red (abrit sepuh<\/em>) in 1982. I do not know anything about the pre-modernization carving motifs on these gamelans, but both sets were given new casings with a unified vocabulary of ornamentation (vegetation with facing crows each holding a seed in their beak) that appears to have been derived from the gamelan p\u00e9log<\/em> K.K. Kancilbelik minus its deer, water and the Eighth Sultan\u2019s royal emblem components<\/a>. The gend\u00e8r<\/em>-type instruments of the Medharsih-Mikatsih pairing, as part of the modernization process, were given mataraman<\/em>-style casings that were probably not present in their pre-modernization state, although, again, I did not see these gamelans in that state. The choice of mataraman<\/em>-style gend\u00e8r casings seems to be a stylistic detail, probably modeled on the gend\u00e8r<\/em> casings of the archaic gamelan K.K. Guntursari<\/a>, present in all the gamelans, starting with the Medharsih-Mikatsih pairing, that have been modernized or purchased under the watchful eye of G.B.P.H. Yudhaningrat since the early 1980s.[6]<\/abbr> The gong racks (gayor<\/em>) of the newly updated Medharsih-Mikatsih pairing were capped with a mask figure (kedhok<\/em>)<\/a>; once again, I do not know if this decorative motif was original to either of the sets prior to their modernization. By 1999 these gamelans had been repainted to roughly their current colors: dark green (ijo sepuh<\/em>) on smooth surfaces with a light red field behind any surface carving, all of which is highlighted in gold<\/a> (see image at the top of this page). By 2016 all the gong stands had new tops, now with an entirely vegetation (lunglungan<\/em>) motif and no kedhok<\/em><\/a>. Also, while the base and background colors remained the same, the highlight had been redone with a more vibrant shade of gold<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Over the thirty-five years that I have had contact with K.K. Mikatsih\u00a0and its gamelan sl\u00e9ndro<\/em> counterpart K.K. Medharsih, they have been subjected to several stages of physical, visual, and tuning transformations. These changes have further transformed these gamelans from relatively obscure objects within the cultural geography of the Kraton Yogyakarta into known and familiar entities utilized on significant palace occasions during which they symbolically resonate the ways in which members of the palace community understand themselves and the institution of which they are a part.<\/p>\n

Inventory:<\/strong>
\ngong ageng<\/em><\/a> (2)
\ngong siyem\/suwukan<\/em><\/a> (3)
\nkempul<\/em> (6)
\nkenong jaler<\/em> (6)
\nkenong japan<\/em> (1)
\nkethuk<\/em> (1)
\nkempyang<\/em><\/a> (1)
\nbonang penembung<\/em><\/a> (1)
\nbonang barung<\/em> (1)
\nbonang penerus<\/em> (1)
\nsaron demung<\/em><\/a> (2)
\nsaron ricik\/barung<\/em><\/a> (4)
\nsaron peking<\/em><\/a> (1)
\ngend\u00e8r penembung\/slenthem<\/em><\/a> (1)
\ngend\u00e8r barung<\/em><\/a> (2)
\ngend\u00e8r penerus<\/em> (2)
\ngambang kayu<\/em> (2)
\nclempung\/celempung<\/em> <\/a>(1)
\nkendhang ageng\/gendhing<\/em> (1)
\nkendhang ketipung<\/em> (1)
\nkendhang alit\/batangan<\/em> (1)
\nsuling<\/em> (1)
\nbendh\u00e9<\/em> (general use instrument shared with other gamelans)
\nbedhug<\/em> (general use instrument shared with other gamelans)
\nrebab<\/em> (general use instrument shared with other gamelans)
\nsiter<\/em> (general use instrument shared with other gamelans)
\nkemanak<\/em> (general use instrument shared with other gamelans)
\nkec\u00e8r<\/em> (general use instrument shared with other gamelans)
\nkeprak<\/em> (general use instrument shared with other gamelans)
\ntambur<\/em> (general use instrument shared with other gamelans)<\/p>\n

Audio and Video Clips:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Audio 1<\/a>\u00a0[L<\/em>adrang\u00a0<\/em>Gati Raja, laras p\u00e9log pathet nem<\/em>,\u00a0performed on K.K. Mikatsih,\u00a0April 15, 1983. Played in loud style (soran<\/em>).]<\/p>\n

Video 1<\/a> [Ladrang\u00a0<\/em>Ayun-ayun, laras\u00a0p\u00e9log pathet nem<\/em>, performed on K.K. Mikatsih while being used to accompany the golek<\/em> Ayun-Ayun dance, March 15, 2007.]<\/p>\n

<\/a>
K.K. Medharsih and K.K. Mikatsih being performed on by a non-palace group at Pagelaran during Pameran Karaton, December 4, 2016.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Acquired: during the Reign of Sultan Hamengku Buwana VII Type of Gamelan: common practice–modernized Tuning:\u00a0p\u00e9log K.K. Mikatsih\u00a0(“tempting love”), according to palace sources, entered palace circles during the reign of the Seventh Sultan (reign 1877-1921), though it is believed he procured this gamelan p\u00e9log while still the Crown Prince (therefore prior to 1877, during the reign … Continue reading “K.K. Mikatsih”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-266","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/gamelan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/266","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/gamelan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/gamelan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/gamelan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/gamelan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"https:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/gamelan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/266\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2222,"href":"https:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/gamelan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/266\/revisions\/2222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vetter.sites.grinnell.edu\/gamelan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}