a Transcription for Gender Wayang
by Zachar Laskewicz
GRINSING KUNING - Flaxen Weave a Gender Wayang Transcription by Zachar Laskewicz played by Danny van Honste and Zachar Laskewicz in Kappelle October 2025
A couple of weeks ago I transcribed a Balinese melody into the format of a score based on recordings and films of Balinese performances. I first made a tonal transcription, but seeing that this is rather confusing for a gender wayang performer (me included), I experimented this time which consists of two five-line stave, first tonally and then into a readable notation score I specificially fashioned on a five line so that it is easy to read. Because the penatonic scale which tends to waver around the octave below and above the middle C for the pemade instruments (consisting of F, A flat, B flat, C and E flat - more or less depending on tuning), I had to transpose the individual notes to being centred on the five lines of the two stave so that it is easy to see which of the ten notes on the instrument are being played.
Transcribing the music meant that I got to know how it worked; the act of finally performing it was a lot of fun because the preparation I had done transcribing it and the ease of reading the notes meant that we were playing this new piece almost immediately.
I will be releasing the PDF version of this score so anyone can learn it quickly and easy. I fell in love with this exquisite piece of Balinese perfection the first time I heard it and I've been meaning to transcribe it. Now it has become reality. Within a week and we finally came together for the first time to perform it at the beginning of October. This is a recording of that performance. "Grinsing Kuning" is a typical Balinese title. No one seems really sure about its exact translation; I think "exquisite fabric" would be a possibility. It certainly feels like an appropriate title because of its patterned repeating melodies. Anyway considering how comparatively little significance the Balinese seem to attach to the titles of musical compositions, using them more to distinguish the pieces from one another than anything else, I've given my transcription my own title: Flaxen Weave.
