In the Indonesian district of Banyumas (located at the border between Central and West Java), the term gamelan calung defines a musical ensemble composed of several bamboo instruments of varying register, a set of double-membrane drums, and a ‘blown gong’. Calung idiophones were probably introduced in Banyumas in the early 20th century by troupes of itinerant performers and were developed into their current form in the late 60s. In the following years, thanks to the recording and distribution of commercial cassettes and the incorporation of this music into the educational programs of some of the leading Central Javanese art academies, calung music has gained increasing visibility, to the point of being regarded as an icon of the Banyumas cultural identity. 

Calung music is characterized by sustained performance tempi, dense rhythmic interplay, rapid dynamic changes, and a close interaction between vocal and instrumental parts, attributes that endow it with a particularly lively character. Like other Javanese music, it is based on a process of simultaneous elaboration of cyclical melodies, following rules and patterns that present a high degree of melodic variation. Players are “free” to choose their own paths and to vary them extemporaneously, as long as they fit into the structure and cadential progression of the pieces being performed.