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Kodok Ngorek 42:08

about

Kodok Ngorek (croaking frogs)

Frogs and insects at night, in the rice paddy fields outside Purwokerto, Banyumas region of Central Java, Indonesia, 1986

From 1985 to 1986 I was awarded a Fulbright Scholar Grant to study gamelan music as a composer in Java, Indonesia. I was based in Surakarta, and traveled all over the island to study, photograph, and record music. During a visit to the Banyumas region of western Java, we went out into the rice fields a few kilometers outside the town of Purwokerto very late one night to record the frogs, insects and other night sounds.

The interlocking sounds of croaking frogs are, in Javanese and Balinese mythology, the origin and inspiration for gamelan music, with its layered cyclic melodies. Kodok ngorek means "croaking frogs," and is also the title for a traditional piece in the gamelan repertoire. In terms of music theory kook ngorek also refers to when two players play interlocking parts to create an additive melody, a direct evocation of the mythological origin of the music itself.

You may play this album at moderate to low volume as an ambient background sound, or at full volume for an immersive experience in the sounds of the tropical night.

credits

released April 19, 2020

Produced, recorded, engineered and mastered by Arthur Durkee
Co-produced by René Lysloff

Remastered for digital release at Dragonsweyr, 2020

recording © 1986, remaster © 2020 Arthur Durkee Arts.
All Rights Reserved.

This album was originally recorded on a Marantz portable stereo cassette recorder, on Maxell CrO2 tape, using an Audio-Technica one-point stereo microphone. I set up the mic on a photo tripod, turned on the recorder, and walked away. The original recording took up an entire side of a 90-ominute cassette tape. This is a one-take recording with no edits.

As this was originally a cassette recording, all efforts have been made to minimize the audio artifacts inherent to analog tape recording. Post-production for digital release used minimal EQ the reduce analog tape noise, and a slight enhancement of the stereo field. No other alterations have been made.

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all rights reserved

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about

Arthur Durkee Ann Arbor, Michigan

Arthur Durkee is a composer & songwriter who records & performs on Chapman Stick, bass, analog modular synths, bamboo & wood flutes, keys, frame drums, and voice. He has won awards for composed, notated music as well as for his recordings, & is a published poet, & designer & illustrator. ... more

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