
Gatra (music)

A gatra ("embryo" or "semantic unit") is a unit of melody in Indonesian Javanese gamelan music, analogous to a measure in Western music. It is often considered the smallest unit of a gamelan composition. 
A "gatra" consists of a sequence of four beats ("keteg"), which are filled with notes (or rests, "pin") from the "balungan". In general, the second and fourth beats of a "gatra" are stronger than the first and third, and the final note of a "gatra", called the "seleh", dominates the "gatra". In other words, the "gatras" are like Western measures in reverse, with the strongest beat at the end. Important colotomic instruments, most notably the "gong ageng", are played on that final beat. If the final beat in a "gatra" is a rest, the "seleh" is the last note played. It is not uncommon in gamelan repertoire to find entire "gatras" of rests. Note that the actual length of time it takes to play a "gatra" varies from less than a second to nearly a minute, depending on the tempo ("laya") and the "irama".
In "kepatihan notation", "gatras" are generally grouped together in the notation of the "balungan", with space added between them. There is, however, no pause between one "gatra" and the next. The different patterns of notes and rests in a "gatra" are explained at "balungan".
Rahayu Supanggah considers the hierarchical nature of the four beats of a gatra to be reflected on a larger scale in gamelan compositions; in particular by the four "nongan" in a "gongan" of the "merong" and "inggah" of a "gendhing". This is similar to the "padang-ulihan" ("question-answer") structure key to gamelan composition.
Names of beats in a gatra.
At least two sets of terms are used to describe the four notes of a "gatra":<br>
Ki Sindusawarno's system: (1) "ding kecil" (2) "dong kecil" (3) "ding besar" (4) "dong besar"<br>
Martopangrawit's system: (1) "maju" ('forward') (2) "mundur" ('back') (3) "maju" (4) "seleh"
The first word in the names is Ki Sindusawarno's system are similar to the names of the hierarchy of pitches used in Balinese music: ding represents the secondary note of a "pathet", and "dong" is similar to the Western idea of tonic. "Kecil" and "besar" mean "small" and "large," respectively, so clearly this articulates the hierarchical system explained in the introduction, with the largest and most significant beat at the end of the "gatra", and a somewhat smaller one halfway through.
The reference for the names in Martopangrawit's system is to "kosokan", the direction of bowing of the "rebab". It also reflects the idea that the second beat is stronger than the first and third, since drawing a bow tends to produce a stronger sound than pushing it.
Experimental gatras.
Although traditionally "gatras" have always contained four notes, a few recent experimental pieces have used "gatras" of other lengths, often because of Western music. An example by a Javanese composer is Pak Marto's "Parisuka". 