Implementation of Kupingan Method in Javanese Karawitan Music Training for Foreigners

The present work explores the implementation of kupingan method in the karawitan music training process to foreign participants with written tradition background. Moreover, it aims to identify, analyze, and elaborate the strength and weaknesses of kupingan method in transfer knowledge of gamelan skills. The present study employed a descriptive-qualitative method and class-action research design. The research objects involved the training of Javanese karawitan music to Tlaga Madu group from the University of Michigan in 2019. The data were obtained through observation of participation, interview, and document study. The data were further validated by triangulation technique and analyzed by steps as follows: identification, classification, verification, reduction, and explanation. The results indicate that kupingan method is applicable in the karawitan music training for foreigners, yet, to a very limited extent. By implementing the method, the training participants can master simple gending (colotomic structure) instrumental of learning materials, such as basic technique and patterns of instruments in the small-format gending lancaran form. On the other hand, the materials of complex gending with larger formats than lancaran are more effective to be disseminated by karawitan notation that is written in detail and elaborated with a demonstration of the song


INTRODUCTION
Since the twentieth century, Javanese gamelan music, or karawitan, has successfully placed itself within a global discourse of traditional music. It features the unique physical appearance of the musical instruments as well as the musical procedures and cultural elements; these aspects are the magnet of karawitan to foreigners in learning and exploring the music (Soesilo, 2018). The foreign learners of karawitan music might find the oral (folklore) tradition of karawitan music learning unique sin-terns and certain types of vocal by rengengrengeng (humming); (2) demonstrating the instrument play and certain types of vocal; (3) presenting the model of certain gending with reference to other relevant gending models, and other conducts. Meanwhile, the learners absorb the knowledge by making use of their auditory senses while recording, imitating, memorizing, and developing the learning materials by themselves.
Within the activities, detailed notes regarding the musical aspects of karawitan are not of emphasis. The musical notation is only used as necessary as a reminder of the working model in certain parts of the musical that are considered important (Supanggah, 2002). The learning process tends to avoid using a strict and detailed karawitan musical note since it can restrict the play model. Such conduct can limit the learners' creativity and weaken their musical sensitivity. The knowledge transfer model of karawitan music skills is also referred to as kupingan method, derived from 'kuping' or 'ear'. The suffix -an illustrates the emphasis on utilizing ears or auditory senses in an activity to achieve the goals (Widada & Sukardi, 2001).
The method is a common way of learning Javanese karawitan music that has been passed down for generations. Karawitan notation was firstly introduced in 1850-1860s in the form of musical notation adopted from the Western musical tradition to record 49 sekar ageng songs as the learning materials of tembang in elementary schools (Sumarsam, 2003). Several other notations, such as Rante, Andha, and the latest, Kepatihan, have also emerged at the later period. The embryo of Kepatihan notation emerged in 1920s in Kepatihan, the residence of Patih Sasradiningrat IV in the era of King Pakubhuwana X of Surakarta (Pradjapangrawit, 1990). The notation takes the form of number one to seven to show the note progression and melodical groove of the karawitan composition. Other aspects of the notation involve the letter sign, lines, dots, ticks, circles, and other signs to show the play of structural ricikan and the dynamics of gending creation. The note-taking of gending takes the form of an outline of song groove and gending structure. In this regard, the notation of karawitan composition is referred to as balungan gending notation. The notation functions as the reference of the play rather than a detailed note on the whole instrumental and vocal play of gending composition that the performers must follow (Supanggah, 2009). Perlman, mentions that balungan gending is an unplayed melody. Meanwhile, Sumarsam refers to it as an inner melody, while Benamoue regards it as a reference melody (Perlman, 1993;Sumarsam, 1992;& Benamoue, 2010).
Despite already having a proper notation system, the process of teaching gamelan skills still incorporates kupingan method. Aside from its function as the reference, karawitan notation also functions as the interpretation of gending creation expressed in the joint performance through the sound signal and response between ricikan (instruments) and vocals. This aims to form an entailed, holistic, dynamic, cohesive, and unitary karawitan composition. Brinner refers to this sound signal and response as the musical interaction, while Santosa calls it musical communication (Brinner, 1995;Santosa, 2001).
The signals are played by leading instruments in the form of sound of kendang drum, rebab fiddle, gender barung, and bonang barung to begin, pause, continue, accelerate, decelerate, strengthen, weaken, highlight, move, direct the song groove, end the performance, and show the dynamic of gending play. Meanwhile, the supporting instruments respond by playing particular patterns in accordance with the musical signal from the leading instruments. The combination of instrumental signals, responses, the sindhenan, and gerongan vocal form the karawitan composition. Since the sound signals and responses are auditive-spontaneous, the performers are demanded to hone their auditory senses and musicality to recognize the signals (Walton, 1996).
The musical working culture of Ja-vanese karawitan allows a huge potential of the development of kupingan method.
To the practitioners of karawitan music, kupingan method has been very useful as a method of gamelan skill learning that enables them to develop a sense of musicality and auditory sensitivity. Regarding the previous notion, the incorporation of kupingan method in foreign learners of gamelan that mainly apply written tradition is yet to be explored. In addition to its effectiveness, the learning materials' acceptable level of complexity for the foreign learners and the strength and weakness of kupingan method is of high interest. The notions above serve as the rationale of the present classroom-action research. Purohman opines that classroomaction research refers to applied research conducted during the teaching process in the class (Purohman, 2018). The domain of classroom-action research involves instructor, learners, learning process and outcomes, curriculum, social capital, environment, and other aspects. The approach might incorporate a different academic background, from psychology, sociology, ethics, religion, economy, history, philosophy, and the like. The stages of classroomaction research involve planning, action, observation, and reflection. Kopiez divides the auditory senses' ability to grasp musical materials in musical training into two levels, high and low. The indicator of a high ability comprises the ability to grasp and break down the combination of notes in a particular rhythm pattern, notes that stand out without melody, note combination with a lowering pitch, as well as the combination of four notes and three notes; while a low ability is only capable of grasping simple musical elements (Kopiez, 2018).
The learners' ability in the learning process of Javanese karawitan refers to their mastery of musical aspects of karawitan music and its gending instruments as the learning materials. The gending instruments involve the play technique, vocals, céngkok, wiled, rhythm, laya, laras, pathêt, and dynamics (Hastanto, 2009). The ga-melan musicians play the instruments to express the musicality in a gending composition. A quality karawitan composition must ensure that the elements of gending can work optimally in accordance with the aesthetic and cultural principles. This is to generate a good taste of karawitan composition that emphasizes the character of gending (Supanggah, 2009). In line with that, Benamou highlights that aesthetics or 'taste' is the core principle of Javanese karawitan music (Benamoue, 2010). Widodo refers the depth of karawitan as "laras", or the beautiful and aesthetic 'taste' of karawitan. The performance of Karawitan composition can awaken the "laras" feeling if the model is conducted properly according to the aesthetic and cultural principles that apply. In this regard, the composition performed will also show a dynamic, compact, holistic, vibrant, appreciative, but not emotional (Widodo, 2017).

METHOD
The researcher developed one's research interest regarding the learning process of karawitan music in foreign learners since assigned as the instructor of karawitan music training at University of Michigan in 2019. The training objectives are the most integral part of the whole process as the benchmark in designing the further activities, analyzing the situation, identifying what approach to use, preparing materials and implementing in a class, and revising. In line with this, classroom-action research involves several steps to achieve the learning objectives: planning, action implementation, observation, and reflection (Purohman, 2018).
The study employed a descriptivequalitative method and classroom-action research design. It was conducted in the training of Javanese karawitan music to Tlaga Madu group, School of Music Theater and Dance, University of Michigan, United States, in 2019. The data were obtained through observation of participation, interview, and document study. The observation was conducted during the whole training process, starting from mid-September to mid-December, 2019. A preliminary observation was carried out to analyze the situation of training facilities and infrastructure. Upon that process, further observation was conducted to retrieve the data regarding the learning materials' contents and level of difficulty and the students' response in mastering the learning materials taught by kupingan method. The study aimed to observe the effectiveness of kupingan method in its correlation with the achievement of training objectives. Kupingan method was applied since the earlier phase of the training process in the topic of basic technique and patterns of gamelan instruments to play gending lancaran composition. The method's effectiveness was to be continuously evaluated and revised after the reflection phase. The method will no longer be used if the participants feel overwhelmed and find it difficult to master the complex learning material. Moreover, a document study was employed to acquire the data on the musical thought process in the participants that apply written tradition. Further, an interview was conducted with the learners to investigate the learners' acceptance level of the learning materials taught by kupingan method.
The data were further validated by triangulation of source, method, and theory. The results generated were verified, identified, classified, interpreted, reduced, and analyzed to generate an answer to the research question. Further, the study elaborated on the strength and weakness of kupingan method regarding the learning materials as well as the learners' acceptance and the set objectives.

Training of Javanese Karawitan Music to Tlaga Madu Group, University of Michigan Objectives
The objectives of karawitan music training in Tlaga Madu group at the University of Michigan in 2019 are different in beginner class and advanced class. The training objectives in the beginner class are: (1) the learners are able to recognize names, shapes, types, and materials of gamelan instruments and mallet tools, as well as the play system; (2) the learners can demonstrate the basic playing techniques of gamelan instruments; (3) the participants can play patterns of gamelan instrument of lancaran composition; (4) the learners are able to perform the gending in a live show with general audience. In advanced class, the objectives of karawitan music training encompass: (1) the learners are able to play the instrument, and vocal patterns of gending lancaran, ketawang, and ladrang; (2) the learners can play the accompaniment gending for Javanese classical dance; (3) the learners are capable of performing the gending as taught during the learning process in a live karawitan concert with the general audience. The learners undergo collective and private karawitan lessons. The private lessons aim to enrich the learners' knowledge on certain patterns of instruments and vocals in the taught gending to optimize the participants' performance.

Facilities and infrastructure
The karawitan training process took place in the Keverson Rehearsal Hall number 1320, William K & Deloris Brehm Pavilion Building, at School of Music, Theater, and Dance University of Michigan. The room's area is 16 X 20 meter square with a soundproof acoustic system. The whole collective training sessions were conducted in the room, while some of the private sessions were conducted in different rooms in the same building. Concerts that present the participants' gending performance were held live in Moore Building, McIntosh Theatre, School of Music, Theatre and Dance University of Michigan.
The training process used complete gamelan instruments set of University of Michigan property bought in 1966 by William Palm. The gamelan set named Kyai Tlaga Madu features several instruments: four units of kendang (Bem, sabet, ciblon, and ketipung), three units of gender barung (laras slendro, pelog barang, and pelog bem), two units of gender penerus, bonang barung, and bonang penerus (laras slendro and pelog), two units of slentem, four units of demung, four units of saron, two units of sarong sanga, two units of peking, 13-pencon kenong, two units of ketuk-kempyang, 11-pencon kempul, two gong gedhe, two units of clempung, two units of gambang, and a pair of flute. The gamelan set is stored in wooden shelf in the back side of Rehearsal Hall. The gamelan set is used when training or for karawitan show. Meanwhile, stationery, whiteboard, board markers, and eraser are the tools to be employed when discussing important topics of gending. Other types of media employed in the karawitan training process are balungan notation of gending materials taught and notation of instrumental and vocal play written by the instructor in detail with Kepatihan font for cipher notation in sheets of paper. The learners also bring recording tools to record the demonstration of instrumental and vocal play patterns as performed by the instructor.

Participants, Materials, and Training Schedule
The training participants involve the Tlaga Madu karawitan group members that enrolled in a training process and performance of karawitan music in 2019. The beginner class was enrolled by seven undergraduate students from different study programs in the local university. Due to shortage of gending players, after the first karawitan concert in the Indonesia Cultural Caravan Midwest-2019 festival, the participants in beginner class were merged into the advanced class. The decision was made to introduce the participants to the various characters of gamelan instrument sounds and their combinations in Javanese gending composition. In the advanced class, all participants were given the opportunity to enrich their vocal and instrumental play on topics with moderate level of complexity, i.e., saron, ketuk-kempyang, kenong, and vocal.
The advanced class was enrolled by the Tlaga Madu group members who already have a prior knowledge of Javanese gamelan before the training. The participants consisted of 14 individuals from the university and the outside of university that share a common interest in Javanese gamelan music. The participants are offered to take a private class that discusses instrumental and vocal play patterns in the gending taught at the training process to increase their gamelan music skills. The private class mainly discusses instruments such as kendang drum, gender barung, bonang barung, gambang, clempung, and gerongan vocal. The collective sessions mainly discuss compositions of Javanese karawitan. The variety and complexity of gending composition are adjusted to the participants' ability and the learning objectives. In addition to the introduction to the gamelan instruments, mallet tools, technique and patterns of balungan instruments, structure, and composition, the beginner class also discusses gending lancaran composition of Lancaran Kotek Sl. My. and Lancaran Ijo-ijo Sl. My. The beginner class is also instructed to assist the advanced class in presenting Retna Pamudya classical Javanese dance by playing the gending Ladrang Kandha Manyura Sl. My. in the Indonesia Cultural Caravan Midwest-2019 concert. Other topics discussed involve klenengan and dance gending as the presentation material in a karawitan concert to end the training process. In detail, the material comprises: The training time and duration of beginner, advanced, and private class is scheduled by the university coordinator. The beginner class begins every Tuesday, while the advanced class starts every Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. All classes begin from 5-7 PM. On top of that, private sessions are conducted every Saturday and Sunday from 1-3 PM. All participants are subject to follow the schedule. Karawitan training classes are closed at national days, mid-term break, and end-term break that apply in University of Michigan.

Implementation of Kupingan Method in Training of Javanese Karawitan Music to Tlaga Madu Group, University of Michigan
The first topic discussed in the beginner class is the introduction and basic techniques of gamelan instrument. The class implemented a lecture model to disseminate the theoretical lessons on the aforementioned aspects. The gamelan instruments of pencon, bilah, and other forms were made of metals with a combination of wood, leather, strings, and bamboo. The instruments comprise: gong, kempul, kenong, ketuk, kempyang, bonang barung, bonang penerus, slentem, demung, saron, peking, gender barung, gender penerus, gambang, clempung, siter, kendang drum, and rebab fiddle. Javanese gamelan applies slendro and pelog scale system. The note sequence in slendro is 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, or ji, ro, lu, ma, nem, and in pelog: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or ji, ro, lu, pat, ma, nem, pi. The notes are embedded in all instruments and organized in the respective frames.
The training applied kupingan method since the first topic. The pencon and bilah are played by striking with the respective mallets, while hand palms and fingers play the kendang drum. Meanwhile, the rebab is played by fiddling with the kosokan stick, while the siter and cemplung are played by strumming with thumbnails. The flute is played by blowing air into it. The striking technique also involves the instrument lid; after striking, the pencon is closed with its lid to prevent echo, while the gong is let to reverb. All plate instruments except gambang are closed by fingers after struck. The closing technique consists of two methods: first, after striking, a note plate is closed (or held) before the second strike. The technique is applied in com-position of gangsaran, sampak, and imbal saron patterns. Second, the plate is closed (or held) simultaneously when striking another plate. This technique is applied in almost all forms and compositions of karawitan music.
After demonstrating the basic techniques, the instructor instructs the participants to practice as demonstrated. The first sessions discuss basic techniques of balungan, involving instruments such as slentem, demung, saron, and peking. After the participants master the lesson, the instructor instructs them to play note three and six from the lancaran composition. In addition to enhance their mastery on basic techniques, the demonstration also aims to internalize the sequence of balungan notes in short gending. Slentem, demung, and saron plates are played alternately and repeatedly to generate the notes, while each peking note plate is struck twice. Once the participants are able to master the basic techniques, the training continues to discuss basic techniques of playing structural, kenong, kempul, gong, and ketuk instruments with a pattern of lancaran form. The notes selection is adjusted with the sequence of short notes as above. The kenong generates a sixth note at each even strike, while kempul generate the same not at each odd strike (except at the first strike where it is not played), gong is struck at the eighth tempo, and ketuk is played in between the strike of balungan notes of gending. Both instrument groups are instructed to play simultaneously in several sessions. The next topic discusses technique and pattern of bonang barung and bonang penerus. Both groups perform the gembyang pattern at sixth note with strike pattern in accordance with the interpretation of lancar density composition. The next instruction is to play the technique and pattern with other instrument groups without looking at the notation. The last lesson at this part is the technique of kendang bem and ketipung. The instructor teaches a technical lesson by lecture method and continues to the note exploration and demonstration. After demonstrating, the instructor asks the participants to demonstrate the play. The technical exploration of kendang play generates a thung sound (p sign), dhah (b sign), tak (t sign), and ket (k sign). Once the participants are able to master the notes, they are instructed to compose a kendang sound composition to form a kendangan main pattern of lancaran as follows: The next instruction is to play the kendang pattern altogether with other instrument groups repeatedly by referring to each group's pattern. At this stage, the participants are able to perform the piece of gending lancaran composition.
The next session discusses the piece of balungan gending of third and second notes at the advanced stage. Bonang barung and bonang penerus players play the second note gembyang, while kenong players play the second note, and kempul players play the sixth note at the same strike as previous part; the same also goes for gong and ketuk. While listening to the composition harmony, the instructor also monitors the players' accuracy of techniques and pattern of each instrument. The last instruction in this part is to combine the pieces of two notes in the first part (third and sixth notes) and the two notes in the second part (third and second notes). The first note group plays three times, while the second group plays once. The combination of note sequences is played repeatedly until all participants are able to master their respective parts. At this stage, the participants have performed a gongan unit of lancaran karawitan composition.
The next instruction for the participants is to play the fifth, third, second, and first notes. Bonang barung and bonang penerus players play the first note gembyang, while kenong players and kempul players play the first note at the same strike as previous part; the same also goes for gong, ketuk, and kendang. Afterward, the next topic discusses third, second, first, and sixth notes. Once the participants are able to master the lesson, the instructor asks them to play the combination of the first and se-cond notes alternately and repeatedly. At this stage, the harmony of notes represents the second gongan stanza of lancaran karawitan composition.
The last verbal instruction is to play the combination of the first and second gongan stanza, each in two rounds. The performance is conducted repeatedly until the participatns are able to play the correct technique and pattern without using notation. Once all participants with their respective instruments master the whole composition, the instructor explains that the composition they played previously is a lancaran form. The composition is named Lancaran Kotek Laras Slendro Pathet Manyura. The balungan notation of gending is then explained.

The Effectiveness of Kupingan Method in Training of Javanese Karawitan Music to Tlaga Madu Group, University of Michigan
Based on the results, the kupingan method was implemented effectively to introduce basic technique and pattern of gamelan ensemble in a gending lancaran composition. Almost all participants are able to master and demonstrate the technique and pattern at a relatively easy and fast level as instructed by the instructor. However, when the composition is performed in the next meeting without using notation, some of the participants were not able to remember their part. This implies that the instructor should remind the patterns of instrument at certain gending parts to the participants who could not memorize them.
These cases mostly occurred in the response towards the gending opening, acceleration and deceleration of tempo, as well as increase and decrease of volume. Despite having repeatedly played, some participants were not fully sure of the right time to start playing once the opening is performed. The problems urge the instructor to reflect and come up with a solution (Purohman, 2018) to allow the participants to use notation. The participants are also allowed to incorporate the counting method to ensure that they can respond to the opening and play their respective instruments. The amount of beats is calculated starting from when the kendang plays the first strike at the nampani buka pattern to the gong note of gending opening. The eighth count pattern of all instruments plays the first note altogether to begin the gending composition.
The same case also occurred in the play of gending dynamics initiated by the kendang while playing a certain note characteristic and pattern. However, when the kendang played the musical signal as the sign to accelerate the tempo (or vice versa) or increase the volume (or vice versa), other instruments were not able to respond accurately. This is presumably due to the lack of comprehension of the mu-sical intention and memorization of the patterns. After conducting reflection, the instructor formulates a solution to ensure the placement of gending dynamics and marks it with karawitan notation. The solution is proven to be able to increase the participants' musical feeling of the gending dynamics. Despite that, the instructor should emphasize that the determination of gending dynamics is not supposed to be a standard aspect to implement. It is expected that the participants can adjust to the kendang signals spontaneously as in accordance to the aesthetical principles of karawitan music. This takes into account that the spontaneous interaction between ensemble parts is a distinct characteristic of gending composition in Javanese karawitan music (Brinner, 1995).
Some similar cases also occurred in private classes. When the composition and the placement of playing patterns of certain gamelan instruments have been shown orally in the balungan gending notes, it is not easy for the participants to play and remember them without using notation. The solution to this is that all the patterns of playing the instruments taught in private classes, i.e., kendang, gender barung, bonang barung, gambang and clempung, are written in detailed notation. The participants were able to master the parts quickly when the playing patterns were written down in detail, and also the meaning and the reading method were explained. However, these musical patterns are limited to following notes written in notation.
As reflected from the cases, the study underlines several syntheses: (1) kupingan method can be used to teach gamelan skills for foreigners to a very limited extend, i.e., at the introduction of techniques and patterns of playing certain instruments in gending lancaran composition; (2) more complex gending lessons than lancaran (ketawang, ladrang, gending kethuk 2 kerap, etc.), as well as the playing patterns of the instruments and other complex gending models are more effectively conveyed through the use of musical notation media; (3) composition of a detailed karawitan musical notation is an alternative to facilitate the transfer process of gamelan playing skills, while also taking into account the need of emphasis that the notation is not supposed to be a standard matter to follow. By this, the participants are expected to develop musical skills and feelings as they experience Javanese musical compositions.
Such detailed notations are never used for local Javanese karawitan performers, as they might view these notations as too complicated, binding, and less functional. In contrast, a detailed musical notation record is needed to facilitate the transfer of gamelan playing skills for foreign learners.

CONCLUSION
Kupingan is a method of gamelan teaching used for generations in the Javanese karawitan world in training and musical performances. The students grasp and internalize the teaching material by relying on their auditory sensitivity and musical sense. In these activities, the use of musical notation is not emphasized. The habit of kupingan method is able to enhance the performers' auditory sensitivity and musical taste.
The study underlines several interesting notes in implementing the kupingan method to foreign learners with written musical tradition. It is found that kupingan method is able to be incorporated in this context, despite to a very limited extent. As the results suggest, the participants were able to master the introduction to basic techniques and play patterns of gamelan instruments in gending lancaran composition. Moreover, the patterns of instruments, vocal songs, and dynamics of relatively complex compositions are more effectively conveyed by using detailed musical notation. The habit of reading scores of Western musical compositions makes it easy and fast for them to accept and master the karawitan composition topics compared to the kupingan method.