Rasa by Java Sonic Ensemble & ɟɐɥɯᴉ ɯnɹsʎᴉp

"Rasa is an integral part of two Javanese mystical traditions: Tantric Shaivism and Mahayana Buddhism on the one hand, and mystical Islam (Sufism) on the other hand.

Java and other parts of Southeast Asia were strongly impacted by Indian culture during the first millennium of this era. The products of this influence include Indian religions, mythology, and, as Laurie Sears posits, Sanskrit aesthetic theory.

A crucial concept in Sanskrit aesthetic theory is the notion of rasa. According to this theory, the hallmark of a good drama is its ability to develop a particular rasa, which then dominates the work.

The rasa magnetizes the viewer, pulling her orhim into the dramatic situation so that the viewercan relish the work in an almost gustatory way, experiencingit in mind and body.9 Enthralled by therasa, the viewer is freed from her or his usual mentalchatter, liberated from the ego.

Rasa theory resonates with some elements of Arthur Schopenhauer’s philosophy. For him, lifeis characterized by a continuous striving and craving.

People can escape from that suffering in the “quiet contemplation of the natural object actually present, whether a landscape, a tree, a mountain.”16 In this reflection, one disassociates oneself from “the principle of sufficient reason”; one “loses” oneself to such a degree that the person and the object “become one,” and the person becomesa “pure, will-less, painless, timeless subjectof knowledge.”

*Quote from 'Aesthetic and Spiritual Correlations
in Javanese Gamelan Music'
by SUSAN PRATT WALTON

Tracklist

1.	Rasa / I	4:27

2.	Rasa / II	6:58

3.	Rasa / III
4.	Rasa / IV

Credits

released December 24, 2019

Re-edit/interpretation of Javanese folk music and add some modular synth sounds from Pure Data with Automatonism.

Used poly fm module with pelog and salendro scale for keep in tone with Javanese music instruments like gamelan, and create experimental noise sounds as textures/accent with basic waveform like squarewave.

Approach with concept of past, present, and future. Between of world music, experimental sound, noise, and unidentified sonic.

___________

Gamelan, Other [Sesepuh], Vocals [Pesindhen]
Performed and recorded by
Java Sonic Ensemble

Electronic,synthesizer.
Re-edited, mixed, mastered by Fahmi M.

License

License varies by track. See the invidual track pages for details.