Sunda, West Java - Kecapi Suling

Kecapi Suling is a form of Sundanese music from West Java. It is essentially Tembang Sunda minus vocals, and also interludes between songs at a typical Tembang Sunda performance. The higher pitched is kecapi rincik and the lower pitched is  kecapi indung. Suling is used during a kecapi suling performance. Kecapi Suling has instrumental pieces performed in two different scales; the first four in laras pelog convey a light mood, the last four, in laras sorog are more slow and grave. 

Kecapi Suling is a genre of Sundanese music that emerged around the middle of the twentieth century developed from an earlier tradition of Tembang Cianjuran, more specifically from improvised interludes played between the songs during its performance by the accompanying ensemble. 

It consists of one or two kecapi (zithers), one suling (flute) and occasionally a set of kendang (drums). It is essentially Tembang Cianjuran without vocalist, sharing the repertoire and playing techniques. Discarding the vocalist from the ensemble does however result in several differences in sound - as the ensemble without vocalist is no longer "aristocratic" it is effectively much less confined to formal music rigor, giving it more freedom for improvisation, rhythm changes and variable track lengths. Lack of vocalist also tends to result in a higher emphasis being put on flute player virtuosity.