Peter Ludwig

This study addresses the environmental materiality and socio-economic concerns of a Gamelan instrument makers in Central java, Indonesia. These artisans rely on a wide variety of materials including wood, metal, cloth to create instruments. For example, ironwood from Borneo is carved into wooden xylophones, and copper gongs are forged from recycled copper tubing and tin mined from Bangka Island near Sulawesi. Gamelan artisans display diverse livelihood strategies including salvaging rare woods and  collecting older instruments to be refurbished.  They also experiment by substituting common materials for more rare ones and use innovative methods and technologies. Gamelan makers are constrained by the available materials, their financial and practical means and their level of social and political influence. Like other artisanal craftspeople, gamelan makers rely on material supply chains in which they are only tangential participants.  At the same time, gamelan’s global expansion as cultural diplomacy and critical world music has increased the number of musicians (customers) in the global North.  This research expands ethno-musicological writing into the emerging field of eco-musicology, while exploring the socio-ecological dynamics involved in the making and trade of musical instruments. Also, I attempt to amplify the voices of  a culturally critical group of artisans who are keeping ancient traditions alive, while surviving at the edges of capitalism.