Tuning Systems in American Gamelan

This is the first in a series of three articles which will in some constitute a prolegomenon to the discussion of tuning systems in American gamelan. This examination will conver: 1) tuning ideas in Java, and the underlying notions of rational tunings in the west, 2) a discussion and documentation of some of the seminal tuning systems implemented so far, and 3) a speculative look at the next stage of intonational ideas for instrument builders, including some proposals for new tunings that might serve as a basis of experimentation for those who have not yet built.