Most people probably could not point to Java on a map, much less identify Gamelan music, a style native to the Indonesian island. San Jose-based band Pusaka Sunda brought the ancient genre to Sacramento State Saturday night.

Pusaka Sunda plays a sub-genre of Gamelan called Gamelan Degung, originating from West Java. Gamelan was first played in Indonesia around the second century. It is performed by an ensemble, which can contain any number of musicians. Typically there are a variety of gongs providing the tempo, while metallophones, similar to xylophones, supply the melody. Over all of these is usually a suling, a bamboo flute with a high-pitched tone.

All the instruments for a Gamelan band are crafted at the same time by an artisan who specializes in their construction. The pieces are designed to be played together, the sound of each specifically made to complement the rest. Since every set is unique, if instruments are paired with those from another set, the desired sound cannot be achieved.

In a typical Gamelan song, a tune is played by one instrument, and the other instruments play their own variation on that theme.

Rae Ann Stahl works at the library at San Jose State University and has been a member of Pusaka Sunda since it was founded in 1988. While most students are probably not familiar with Gamelan, Stahl said fans of jazz might hear something they recognize.

“It is definitely ensemble-based music,” she said. “So in many ways it is most similar to jazz in that you have points in the music where all the instruments come together, but between those meeting points there is some freedom to improvise.”

Stahl’s husband, Burhan Sukarma, started Pusaka Sunda. He started playing the suling in the 1960s, and has since become a noted virtuoso, appearing on many successful recordings before relocating to the United States in the 1980s. Stahl said she was introduced to Javanese music when she heard one of these recordings while studying at University of California, Santa Cruz, although she did not know who Sukarma was at the time.

UC Santa Cruz is a hot spot for Gamelan, Stahl said, as it is one of the only universities offering classes about it. This is where many of her bandmates, who are mostly American-born, first heard the music. Stahl said she went to see a student ensemble play one night and instantly fell in love.

“I do not think that anyone in our ensemble went into Santa Cruz thinking they were going to be playing Gamelan,” she explained. “They sort of discovered it there.”

Looking at the meager crowd in Capistrano Hall Saturday night, it was obvious Javanese music has not made its way onto many iPods yet. Roughly one-third of the recital hall was filled, mostly by students required to attend concerts by music professors. Some in attendance, though, were familiar with Gamelan and would not have missed it.

Gary Meyer has been coming to concerts at Sac State for 20 years, and had been looking forward to Pusaka Sunda for months. He discovered Gamelan during a three-week trip to Indonesia, and since that time has accumulated about 25 CDs.

Meyer said Gamelan is omnipresent in the southeast Asian country, with multiple ensembles in every village playing at many social gatherings. He said he loved how peaceful and hypnotic the band was, and the show “took (him) right back to Bali.”

Each song had a similar haunting quality, characterized by the faint tinkling of metallophones and the deep thud of a giant, hanging gong. Sukarma’s smooth suling stylings reigned over every selection, at different times joined by a violin and two women singing a high-pitched Indonesian melody. A dancer performing traditional routines accompanied several of the songs.

Jamal Abdul Samad, accounting student at American River College, said he was sent to Sac State Saturday by word of his world music professor. He first heard Gamelan in his class, and had never seen anything like the instruments used on stage. He appreciated what he learned about Indonesian art.

“It shows a lot about their culture,” he said. “It kind of helps me to picture (it) more.”

Gamelan music might never become popular in the U.S.- certainly not as much as in its homeland. But a Pusaka Sunda show gives western students a taste of something different, and the story of its members demonstrates how broadening one’s cultural horizons can lead to the discovery of a lifelong passion.

Alex Grotewohl can be reached at [email protected]