Gong is a traditional music tool made of metal that is in the culture of Java combined in the gamelan instrument. This music tool is usually used as a sign of beginning and the end of the gending or song as well as gives a sense of balance after a long enough gending sentence. But the existence began to be difficult to encounter because the current generation prefers using modern music instrument.
However, gong craftsmen at Wirun, Mojolaban, Sukoharjo, Central Java still continues to produce the traditional music tools. One of the gong crafts, Supoyo, admitted to making gongs not only the livelihood but also to preserve the culture.
Although being nicknamed as a gong industrial flashlight, Wirun only has 10 craftsmen because other chooses to close businesses for the reason for expensive production costs. It is due to the cost of production and salary of high employees while gong orders begin to be limited. Moreover, the gamelan is comparable at high prices, namely Rp250 million-Rp350 million per set consisting of 26 traditional music tools. In addition, the manufacturing process is quite long, namely five months.
Workers hit with hammers to provide pressure on certain parts of the gong so that it produces different titinada
The work heats the lead plate and copper that already shaped gong so it is enough software to be formed
Supoyo said that the gamelan is usually in export to Malaysia, Germany, South Korea, Australia, Japan and Taiwan while the country is usually to Bali that is routinely sent every half month.
The manufacture of gongs is still very traditional and done with human hands without the help of modern tools. The manufacture of gongs is usually done eight people to ten people. The process is quite long starting by cooking the raw material of the platemaker from tin and copper to melt which is then poured into the mold and so the plate.
The plate is then heated repeatedly and forged to produce the desired shape. When this warming process, workers must be charged with the heat of the coal. The finished cliff then set the tone according to the existing sound standards. This process is most difficult because not everyone can do it because it is usually based on insting.
The water drinks inside the tea and the prepared cup for the gong maker workers
The lead plate that has melted before being laid in the mold
Photo & Text: Maulana Surya
The work welds several metal parts to form the outer contour of the gong
The number of equipments used by workers in making the gong
Potret owner of the effort of Gong, Supoyo (bottom) along the workers poses by bringing the gong core tone