Path: utzoo!yunexus!ists!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!wuarchive!gem.mps.ohio-state.edu!apple!well!csz
From: csz@well.UUCP (Carter Scholz)
Newsgroups: comp.music
Subject: Re: gamelan tunings
Keywords: Intonation systems, octaves, tuning systems
Message-ID: <14592@well.UUCP>
Date: 16 Nov 89 07:32:37 GMT
Article-I.D.: well.14592
References: <3113@husc6.harvard.edu> <14533@well.UUCP> <3156@husc6.harvard.edu>
Reply-To: csz@well.UUCP (Carter Scholz)
Organization: Whole Earth 'Lectronic Link, Sausalito, CA
Lines: 29




> ...much talk about gamelan tunings, the possibility that they're derived
> from overtones, ending with:

>of the chicken-and-egg debate re Western tuning).  The interesting
>problem is whether gamelan intonation is *subconsciously* influenced
>by overtone reinforcement.  For starters, can you post or give a
>reference to the frequency ratios of the common gamelan scales?
>Or is the scale so flexible that such questions are meaningless?

The scales are very flexible.  Pelog tunings (7 tone) generally
preserve narrow-wide interval distinctions, but slendro (5 tone)
can flop around, so that wide-narrow-narrow-wide-narrow becomes
narrow-narrow-wide-narrow-wide on the gamelan in the next town.
This doesn't disturb Javanese at all, but it plays havoc with my
Western ear.

There are no in-print trustworthy references to gamelan tunings.
Gadjah Mada University published one in the 1960's which appears
systematic--it compares 2 dozen "famous" central Javanese gamelan.
Some tunings are also given in KARAWITAN volume 1, ed. Judith Becker,
U of Michigan 1984.  Jaap Kunst's famous MUSIC IN JAVA (1930's) is
untrustworthy: he rationalizes everything to a 1200-cent octave.

Hope this helps.

Carter Scholz  (csz@well.uucp)