The Balinese ceremonial soundscape: simultaneity of soundings -- Instruments: materials, tuning, and timbre -- Interlocking and layering: musical roles in the ensemble -- The world of stories: integration of music, dance, and drama in traditional Balinese theater -- Characterization, movement, and gong structures that enliven Balinese theater -- Large-scale form in Gong Kebyar and its antecedents -- Conclusion: three themes revisited at a cremation ceremony.

1. The Balinese ceremonial soundscape: simultaneity of soundings -- Place, time, and circumstance -- The act of offering -- Thinking in threes: historical periods, degrees of sacredness, and spatial orientation of the performing arts -- 2. Instruments: materials, tuning, and timbre -- The power of bronze -- Tuning and timbre -- The waves of paired tuning: a gamelan's breath of life -- Tuning systems, scales, and notation -- Gamelan Gong Kebyar: the explosive twentieth-century style -- Instrument families in Gamelan music -- 3. Interlocking and layering: musical roles in the ensemble -- The musical community of a Gamelan Sekaha -- The stratified texture of Gamelan: simultaneous melodies -- Leadership, cueing, and ensemble interaction -- 4. The world of stories: integration of music, dance, and drama in traditional Balinese theater -- Playing the past in the present -- Assumptions and conventions in traditional Balinese theater -- Wayang Kulit (Shadow puppet theater) -- 5. Characterization, movement, and gong structures that enliven Balinese theater -- Aesthetics and character types: Halus (refined) and Keras (strong) -- Male, female, and androgynous dance styles -- Topeng (Masked dance drama) -- Legong -- Elements of dance and music in Topeng and Legong -- Listening to two Topeng pieces -- Kecak -- 6. Large-scale form in Gong Kebyar and its antecedents -- "Classical" tripartite form -- Listening to an entire piece: the tripartite form in "Sinom Ladrang" -- Innovations in form and texture in Kebyar Kreasi Baru (new creations) -- 7. Conclusion: three themes revisited at a cremation ceremony.

CD Track List -- 1. Night sounds -- 2. Gamelan gong playing a temple piece with priest's and congregation chanting in distance -- 3. Gamelan gong playing the gineman (introductory section) of the lalambatan (slow temple piece) "Jagul" (I Dewa Alit, trompong, Sanggar Çudamani) -- 4. Gamelan gong playing the pangawak (main body) of the lalambatan (temple piece) "Jagul" (I Dewa Alit, trompoing, Sanggar Çudamani) -- 5. Gamenlan gender wayang in wayang lemah (daytime ceremonial shadow play) performance during a ceremony (Gender wayang performers from Kayu Mas, Badung, Denpasar, include I Wayan Konolan and I Wayan Sujana; dalang [shadow master] Ida Bagus Ngurah Buduk) -- 6. "Topeng Keras" (accompanies a strong topeng characer) -- 7. "Topeng Arsa Wijaya" (accompanies a refined character) -- 8. Gamelan gambuh: gineman and dramatic excerpt illustrating stylized speech (Batuan Gambuh ensemble, vital records 501, track 1, "Batel" selisir mode, with permission) -- 9. Gamelan balaganjur playing a processional gilak piece -- 10. Gamelan balaganjur playing a kreasi (new creation) for procession (Sanggar Çudamani) -- 11. Gamelan gong kebyar "Java Semara" complete version (Sanggar Çudamani) -- 12. Gamelan jegog Werdi Sentana, "Jegog. Bamboo Gamelan of Bali" -- 13. The "wave" of paired tuning -- 14. Three pentatonic scales in the pelog tuning system -- 15. Listening to the gongs -- 16. "Java Semara" demonstration, building up layers; structural framework of gongs; low instruments; ugal; gangsas and reyong -- 17. Drums: syllables spoken by I Dewa Putu Berata, then a pattern played on two interlocking drums -- 18. Gangsa kotekan norot (single-note interlocking) -- 19. Gangsa kotekan nyong-cag (leaping interlocking) -- 20. Pangecet (final) section of the piece "Java Semara," alternating between two types of gangsa interlocking -- 21. Kotekan telu from the piece "Jauk Manis" -- 22. Same kotekan as in track 21, played at a faster tempo --

23. Same kotekan with full gamelan -- 24. Expansion and contraction of a kotekan empat (4) pattern, from the piece "Teruna Jaya" -- 25. Ocak-ocakan reyong alone ("Teruna Jaya," Sanggar Çudamani) -- 26. Same excerpt with full ensemble ("Teruna Jaya," Vital records, 401 with permission) -- 27. Reyong syncopated interlocking patterns from "Topeng Keras" -- 28. Reyong norot interlocking from pangecet "Jaya Semara" -- 29. Gineman and beginning of "Sekar Sungsang," a "sitting piece" named after a kind of flower, played on gender wayang -- 30. Batel (a colotomic meter used for action scenes) -- 31. Omang Barong (a colotomic meter used in Barong dance drama) -- 32. Bapang (a colotomic meter) -- 33. Gabor Longgor (a colotomic meter, here used in "Jauk Manis") -- 34. Gilak (a colotomic meter used for processions and "Topeng Keras") -- 35. "Topeng Keras," layering demonstration -- 36. Kecak, the "Monkey chant," a sequence of forms and melodies -- 37. Kecak, a 16-beat melody -- 38. "Sinom Ladrang" playing by Sanggar Çudamani -- 39. "Jagra Parwata" (The awakening of the mountain), Kreasi Baru for Gong Kebyar by I Nyoman Windha -- 40. "Pengastukara" [We give blessing], a new composition for gamelan semarandana, composed by I Dewa Ketutu Alit, performed by Sanggar Çudamani -- 41. Gamelan angklung: two excerpts of a field recording from a melaspas cermeony inaugurating a house temple in Pengosekan, Gianyar; kidung chanting is heard in the background.