Gamelan is thought to come form a Javenese word gamel, which means ‘ to handle’ (Sumarasam 1995 :319-320). It also refers to a type of hammer particularly appropriate for metal percussion instrument that dominate gamelan ensemble because of the way the instruments are made and played. The instruments originated probably from northern Vietnam, where visitors brought bronze object and technology in about 300 B.C and possibly rice cultivation technology as well. (Hood 1980: 122)
Balinese history can be viewed as four different eras. The earliest postprehistoric stage, so called Indigenous Bali is considered to have begun during the third millennium B.C., with vast amount of migrants from mainland Southeast Asia.(Goris, 1960) Followed by the second period of Balinese Hindu Culture immigrants from India. The third phase of Balinese History started at the end of fifteenth century after the collapse East Javanese Majapahit dynasty where the leaders flee into Bali and cultural development took place over the next four hundred years under Majapahit descendants. The Dutch colony in the twentieth century marks the last period in Balinese History.
According to Michael Tenzer in his book Gamelan Gong Kebyar, the gamelan music plays an important role in traditional life of people in Bali is based on the concept of “Collectivity”. It was said that prior to modern era, interwining of collective behaviour and social stratification was reflected in the may intersecting dimensions of cultural production such as religious believe and practice, craftmanships and plastic arts, performance and literature and others. (Tenzer 2000, 76). And each of there was a collective undertaking with broad social and religious benefits, with the aim to reinforce, or to serve to legitimize, the divine of power of noble and priest(*rephrase this*). The Dutch colonial enterprise supplanted the organizing structure of the kingdoms gradually during the start of