History
The system was devised around 1900 at the Kepatihan (the Grand Vizier's compound) in Surakarta, and was based upon the Galin-Paris-Chevé system, imported in the nineteenth century by Christian missionaries to allow the notation of hymns. It superseded several other notation systems of Javanese origin devised around the same time.
To this day, the value of notation is disputed. As the kepatihan cipher system records primarily the skeletal melody line (or balungan), the wide range of improvisational techniques performed upon this line by the various instruments in gamelan are not represented. Whether they should be represented has been a matter of discussion in modern Indonesia.
Read more about this topic: Kepatihan Notation
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