Indonesian traditional music as a whole demonstrates the country’s cultural diversity – a mix of local musical creativity and subsequent foreign musical influences that shaped Indonesia’s music scenes contemporarily. For Palmer Keen, a self-described ethnomusicologist from the United States, the traditional ensemble music gamelan is the gateway drug to Indonesian music.
Keen has been living in Indonesia for seven years, and he spends his time extensively traveling around the country, doing research, and recording a lot of different traditional music groups. Through his journey, Keen met and fell more deeply in love with Dayak lute musicians in Kalimantan, lalove artisans in Sulawesi, gamelan groups in East Java, and many others. His journeys are documented on his ethnomusicology blog, with many videos, audio recordings, analyses, and comparisons of the various styles and instruments.
One of the main problems many nations face is the rapid modernization that, while bringing various positive impacts, also puts certain cultural products at risk of disappearing, and many Indonesian traditional music instruments are a part of it. Keen has his opinion on this, stating that technology and tradition don’t necessarily oppose each other. His goal here is to benefit the traditional music communities by using advanced technology inventions for people out there to listen in a way they maybe couldn’t do before.
So far, Keen has visited at least 27 of Indonesia’s 34 provinces and hopes to visit Papua someday. While he can’t give the exact answer as to when or how this work will end, he said he vowed to continue as long as there is still exciting music to explore.
← Back to portfolio
