Bambus.de Termine | 1000 things | Newsletter | Warenkorb | Kontakt By Rosy Ross
One might say, “Only in San Francisco!” It was a BAMBOO FESTIVAL with a GAMELAN ensemble playing music on big bamboo instruments, and with some of the best and rare bamboo plants in the world being sold and auctioned.
However, having said that, Greg Bullock commented that the combination of Gamelan music and bamboo reminded him of the International gathering in Bali in 1990. So much for “only in San Francisco..”
Gamelan Sekar Jaya, the group that played for us, had 12 to 14 performers at a time, playing on bamboo instruments that came from the West of Bali where the music is from. The bamboo instruments belonged to Mickey Hart (Drummer for the Grateful Dead) and were part of his extensive musical instrument collection.
Sam Wantman, of the Gamelan Sekar Jaya group said ”Mickey Hart graciously gave them to us to use in the fall of 2003. Unfortunately, he only had 6 instruments, and you need at least 12 to perform. “
Wantman continues, “The other 6 instruments were made over the last two years by myself and my partner Dave Hermeyer (an ABS member). The frames were made from 2X4s and plywood. The keys were made from MOSO bamboo imported from China. (with thanks to BAMBOO GIANT in Aptos for a very generous discount). While moso works great for some of the bigger keys (3-5 feet long), it is not the best choice for the smallest keys because it is too thin. For the small keys of the new instruments, we had to order bamboo from Bali. It is very hard to come by! I don't know the species. The bamboo is cut and then cured in mud, so that it absorbs minerals (Stradivarius did the same to the wood with which he made violins). The keys were made by myself and our guest teacher I Made Terip (pronounced EE MAH-DAY TRIP).
Performing on bamboo instruments requires constant maintenance. The keys are always splitting and cracking. Dave Hermeyer has gotten extremely good at gluing them back together. If any of the ABS members can recommend a glue for repairing split bamboo, I’d really appreciate it! We have been using epoxy, but it doesn’t adhere to bamboo all that great and is also prone to cracking.”
Both pieces played at the Festival were composed by guest music director, I Made Terip. The new piece is called LELAKUT,which means “scarecrow” in Indonesian. The performance at the Festival was its world premier.
Besides the plants, T shirts made of bamboo were a popular sale item, as were the miniature bamboo plant arrangements by Carol Morse of Terra Viridis Nursery. There were beautiful note cards and photos with bamboo as the motif, as well as bird houses made of bamboo.
The event was held 23 April in the County Fair Building in beautiful Golden Gate Park.
The room in which the Festival was held has one wall with floor to ceiling glass, thereby giving the impression that all the sale bamboo plants inside were an extension of the park outside.
Bob Johannessen, as auctioneer, auctioned 30 plants. The highest paid plant was a Chusquea sp. ‘Las Vigas.” David King, Hastings Schmidt and Jesus Mora all helped with descriptions of the auction plants. They were not always in agreement about the identification, source and details of the plant, but they were always very funny, keeping the crowd entertained and active.
Total of $1,370.00 was raised by auction.
Overall profit for the Festival was $1,580.00
As Darrel DeBoer, NCCABS president said “Quite a civilized way to spend our time.”
