Angklung Set, Bamboo, Chromatically Tuned, Brighter
(Ang Klings, Anklung, Angkloeng, Gitterrassel)
Mfg. by Unknown
Sharper attack. Edgier sound. From Thailand/Indonesia. Each angklung has 2 of the same notes, but one octave apart.
Note: range indicates the lower octave of notes. Not all angklung are shown.
Most often played by shaking, these bamboo angklung provide a different sound than other standard percussion instruments, and can be used melodically or just as texture. They also can be used on the rack as a comprehensive set, or taken off individually. Common to this instrument, each angklung plays two octaves of the same note.
Some of these angklung were acquired in 1960 from composer Allyn Ferguson, who returned from Laos with four of them, and subsequently wrote for angklung in his scores, including Charlie’s Angels. Emil collected more angklung little by little. However, he acquired a large set of angklung in the 1970s from an Los Angeles-area African American Baptist church who was looking to get rid of them because they were not being used.
Many composers favored using the higher angklung, but Lalo Schifrin preferred writing more for the lower ones, which were suspended on large racks. They were also written for in scores by composers Michael Kamen, Johnny Mandel, and Hank Mancini, to name a few.
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- C4-G6
Listen for the hollow, woody sound of the bamboo angklung, which are used as textural accent points in this clip from the Kung Fu TV series (1970s), composed by Jim Helms.
In Land of the Lost (2009) by Michael Giacchino, a single shaken angklung takes a solo, completing two consecutive phrases on the tonic.
Angklung take a harder, more percussive role in this clip from Planet of the Apes (1968) by Jerry Goldsmith.
