What is "ugal"

An Ugal is an instrument in an Indonesian gamelan orchestra. It is a bronze metallophone played one handed with a small hammer, often in a dance-like manner. There are usually ten keys, giving a maximum range spanning about two octaves. Like the gangsa and gendér, they are suspended over tuned bamboo resonators.

Ugal features mainly in gamelan gong kebyar, where it carries the central melody (pokok) of the piece. Sometimes it may give its melodic duty to the jublag, where it then takes over as the leader of a kotekan.