'Gong' is a Javanese word; and 'gamelan' is a traditional Indonesian orchestra, consisting mostly of gongs, metallophones and drums.
Ever since Debussy heard it in 1889, gamelan music has inspired many Western composers, both classical and popular. When Alec Roth first heard it as a music student at Durham he was so taken with the sound that he travelled to Java to study it. Now he is the Gamelan Programme Director at the South Bank Centre in London where, in a glass-walled room overlooking the Thames, he passes on his skill to school children, composers, rock musicians - anyone who falls under the garnelan spell. David Foil invites you to remove your shoes, discard any Western musical preconceptions and join him on the course for adult beginners. Producer NIGEL ACHESON. Stereo