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Looking for antique Javanese drums last summer in Solo, Ann asked the owner of her "home-stay" where she might find some nice ones. He had a music-loving friend from Bangladesh who knew a maker of gamelan instruments in the area. That friend happened in the door a few minutes later, bearing a plant as a gift for the opening of the new home stay. He was delighted to talk about his musician friend, who makes all the instruments for the gamelan orchestra-- chimes, gongs, drums, flutes.

Soon , Ann and Rudi, the home stay owner, were driving off through the
narrow backstreets of Solo trying to follow a map drawn on the back of a
business card. At several junctures, they asked after "the gamelan man", and finally parked to walk down a long alley. There was no mistake. In the midst of a completely residential neighborhood was a garage filled with instruments. Outside, two men worked to forge a bronze gong. Inside, several other men worked tightening heads on aged fruitwood drums and trying out sets of chimes.

In the musician's home, Ann and Rudi sat with the master, as he was called,and were served round after round of sweet, hot mint tea in Looney Tunes jelly jars by the master's wife and daughter while the master played. They heard several of his collection of rebabs, or two-stringed lutes. Next he played chimes; then drums, and flutes. For two hours they drank tea and listened.

After the concert, the master led them through his workshop, explaining how the fruitwood trees were chosen and hollowed out for the drums, how the bamboo for the flutes was harvested at dawn in the mountains, how the sounds of iron and bronze gongs differ.

After dark, Ann headed back with Rudi in silence to the homestay, a bundle of flutes in the backseat, music in her head and with ideas for future
purchases.