Outside Indonesia
The angklung was first invented in West Java, Indonesia; with a possibility of cultural transmittance to various other places such as Malaysia & the Philippines over the course of several centuries. In the early 20th century during the time of Dutch East Indies, the angklung was adopted in Thailand, where it is called angkalung (อังกะลุง). It was recorded that angklung was brought to Siam in 1908 by Luang Pradit Pairoh, royal musician in the entourage of HRH Field Marshal Prince Bhanurangsi Savangwongse of Siam, who paid a royal visit to Java that year (27 years after the first state visit of his elder brother, King Chulalongkorn to Java in 1871.) The Thai angklung are typically tuned in the Thai tuning system of seven equidistant steps per octave, and each angklung has three bamboo tubes tuned in three separate octaves rather than two, as is typical in Indonesia.
In 2008, there was a grand celebration in the Thai traditional music circle, to mark the 100th anniversary of the introduction of angklung to Thailand. Both the Thai and Indonesian governments supported to celebration.
Angklung has also been adopted by its Austronesian-speaking neighbors, in particular by Malaysia and the Philippines, where they are played as part of bamboo xylophone orchestras. Formally introduced into Malaysia sometime after the end of the Confrontation, angklung found immediate popularity. They are generally played using a pentatonic scale similar to the Indonesian slendro, although in the Philippines, sets also come in the diatonic and minor scales used to perform various Spanish-influenced folk music in addition to native songs in pentatonic.
At least one Sundanese angklung buncis ensemble exists in the United States. Angklung Buncis Sukahejo is an ensemble at The Evergreen State College, and includes eighteen double rattles (nine tuned pairs) and four dog-dog drums.
Many angklung videos are available on YouTube. People have even started to play pop songs on them, which just goes to show how quickly this generation is going by.
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