GAMELATRON: The scary thought of a musically robotic future

I am currently playing in a Indonesian Gamelan ensemble. For a couple hours every week the process of hitting mallets on strangely tuned gongs and instruments has become a form of musical meditation for me. I am able to completely disconnect from my solipsistic reality and become part of the groups collective sound; drowning out my thoughts in the soothing melodies. That is why I was somewhat disturbed when I ran across this.


There is part of me that thinks making a robotic gamelan or "gamelatron" is a really cool innovative idea; but is this the future of musical performance we have to look forward to? Humans should play music, not robots. Music should be imperfect. Tempo should be human tempo. I guess the robot is still created by humans, but it seems to be a process that would slowly degrade the soul of sound. Music is sensitive and emotional, how can we emulate emotions through machines that don't feel?


As I was thinking more and more about this musically robotic future, I then ran into a video of a robot playing a violin! What is going on?! Are musicians going to be replaced by machines?



Depressed by this notion, I tried to research the origins of the gamelan and go back to the roots of the actual sound. Used as the soundtrack for shadow puppet performances in Indonesia, this beautiful musical ensemble has played a crucial role in many rituals and ceremonies and is still an important part of indonesian culture today. Some songs are thought to ward off evil spirits, and there is a general mysticism around the music that transports you when you play or listen to the music. As I was starting to appreciate the cultural resonance of music in Indonesia I then found an article about how the president of Indonesia just released his third pop album! "The president said he wanted to convey his "inner feelings" through his music and inspire Indonesians." Subliminal messaging through pop music? Maybe... Or maybe just an attempt from a politician to avoid corruption scandals by exploring his more "artistic side"; I'm not sure.


Feeling discouraged by the current state of music in society, and somewhat weary that the internet had played a trick on me I gave up on my research here, thinking to myself: Is this a joke? Hopefully I will find some more uplifting news in the near future but for now I will go to my gamelan rehearsal today and try to find solace in the music and sound we will create together.