Hungry Flower is a small orchestral ensemble that uses chromatic metallic percussion and global musical theory to create unique music. Hungry Flower is a gamelan.

Hungry Flower's essential instruments are the kechar, gongs, drums, flutes, cing cings and pepoungs.

The kechar ("teacher") is the timekeeper, like a tricky metronome with a musical voice; the gongs form the essential melodic structure and compliment the kechar's timekeeping function. Together with strong and sensitive drums, these three elements provide the rhythmic life and pulse of Hungry Flower.

One of the unique elements of the Hungry Flower gamelan is the use of the pepoung, an instrument that is both elementally simple and completely unique to Hungry Flower. Pepoungs are metal chromatic percussive instruments. Each is a simple black pipe, cut to size and arrayed in groups of up to nine on metal frames. In each set there is there is typically a high, medium, and low note. The instrument is played with a striker held in each hand. The melody of a set of pepoungs interlocks as each player creates one part of a whole, so that the notes of a melody can originate from within a complex three dimensional area of space to take on an intricate and surprisingly spatial character. Pepoung music is usually quiet and melodically expressive, with a sonic identity that might resemble metallic rain, but can surge into angry or exhilarated notes, or explode with biting high-frequency shocks. Hungry Flower's most rigorous musical training is usually centered on the pepoung as it is a demanding discipline requiring group effort and patient dedication.

Flutes are used to provide another layer of harmony or melody. Our flutes are handmade by a local craftsman according to our own musical scale which is based on a slendro scale, with five notes. The sound is emotionally evocative, sometimes eerie.

The cing cings are saucer sized cymbals which augment the percussive elements of the gamelan. The player holds one in each hand and strikes them against each other in different positions to achieve different sounds.

Guest Musicians
Atlanta's musical culture is rich with untapped talent; guest musicians are featured as often as possible. Instruments that Hungry Flower is interested in incorporating include bassoon, trumpet, ribab and other strings. Musicians wanting to rehearse with us should understand that our music is not improvisational and relies on theory that will be unfamiliar to most western-trained musicians. With that in mind, please feel free to contact us and make an appointment to come and explore this Atlanta original!