These two Gamelan performances are very different. In fact, If I did not know that they were both Gamelans, I would think they were from entirely different cultures.
The "Ratna Ayu" Gamelan starts off loudly, with many metallic instruments and then quiets down to focus on a group of dancers dressed in extravagant cultural costume. The dancers' movements are very fluid and their headdresses are extremely ornate and beautiful. The song eventually picks up again, and so does the movement of the dancers. The instrument players are arranged in two rows on either side of the dancers, and they are also dressed in bright robes. The blues and purples of their dress create a serene, yet intense scene of dancing and music.
In "Bali Nyepi" the song starts out soft with no percussion, only a solo by a metallic gong-like instrument. The players are also arranged facing each other, but there are no dancers and they are all dressed in white with white headbands. It seems more authentic in the way that the players do not seem to be dressed in extravagant costumes. The song seems to be much more percussion based with a less harmonious melody, at times seeming very busy to the ears. Their performance seems to be focused on the instrumentation and not the cultural dancing like "Ratna Ayu." Both of these videos were extremely interesting and I would like to learn more of the background of these performances.