Irama is the term used fortempo inIndonesiangamelan inJava andBali. It can be used with elaborating instruments. It is a concept used inJavanese gamelan music,^[2] describingmelodic tempo and relationships in density between thebalungan,elaborating instruments, andgong structure.^[3] It is distinct from tempo (Javanese:Laya), as eachIrama can be played in different tempi.^[4][5]Irama thus combines "the rate of temporal flow and temporal density"; and the temporal density is the primary factor.^[6]

One way to think ofIrama is to use the most consistently struck instrument in the gamelan, thesaron panerus (orpeking). In some pieces, it plays once per note in thebalungan (such as played by thesaron barung). In others, it may play twice as often, or four times, as the notes of thebalungan are more spread out. This corresponds to a slowerIrama. In most cases, the more spread out thebalungan is, the longer it takes to reach agong ageng.^[7]

There are fiveIrama:^[2]

In slowerIrama, there is more space to be filled, and typically elaborating instruments become more important.

EachIrama can be played in threeLaya ("tempi"):

• Seseg ("fast"),
• Sedeng ("medium")
• Tamban ("slow").

Frequently, a change ofLaya signals a new section.

• Gamelan
• Gamelan notation
• Music of Indonesia
• Music of Java

• Spiller, Henry.Gamelan: the traditional sounds of Indonesia. ABC-Clio, 2004.ISBN 978-1-85109-506-3
• Sumarsam.Gamelan: cultural interaction and musical development in central Java. University of Chicago Press, 2nd Edition, 1996.ISBN 978-0-226-78011-5

• Gamelan theory
• Rhythm and meter

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata