saron family (Family of Sundanese metallophones)
~ Percussion instrument
Description
Part of the Sundanese gamelan, these consist of a decorated wood resonator (rancak) upon which is resting six to nine thick, smooth, bronze or iron keys that are hit with mallets of hard wood or buffalo horn.
The saron family consists of the smallest member; saron panerus, the middle pitch member; saron barung and the largest member; sarong demung. Additionally, the largely obsolete slentho (which has been subsumed by the slenthem) is even deeper than the demung and the saron peking, which is a special slendro variant is even higher than the panerus, of which it shares an overlapping range. Finally the saron wayang is used in wayang performances.