WHERE ELSE could students get a chance to pluck, bow and bang a: gong agung, kempul, suling, rebab, slenthem, saron barang, bonang, gambang, kenong and kendang, if not at York? It's all part of the University's multicultural diversity that's found expression in York's own Javanese gamelan ("ga-meh-lawn") - one of the world's great orchestral traditions.

That students can do so at all is thanks to instruments loaned by the Indonesian Consulate General in Toronto.

York's gamelan was made in the royal city of Surakarta in Java, and consists of gongs, gong-chimes, metalophones, drums, a xylophone, flute, spiked-fiddle and zither. They're all tuned to laras slendro, one of two traditional Javanese scales.

Gamelan music is one component of Javanese ritual, theatrical and dance practices. Along with learning how to play the various hand drums and pot-like instruments resembling high-end kitchen ware, students learn songs to be accompanied by the gamelan repertoire. Songs are part of the karawitan or classical music arts of Java.