American gamelan
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American Gamelan is a style of gamelan based on Javanese gamelan instruments and music, but using primarily American made instruments and compositions. Lou Harrison is well known for his compositions for American gamelan.
Dennis Murphy is credited by Lou Harrison as being the first person to build instruments outside of Indonesia, circa 1960. This work led to his Doctorate thesis at Wesleyan University entitled "The Autochthonous American Gamelan". The first American Gamelan group was created by Murphy at Goddard College in Vermont in 1967. In 1971 Lou Harrison and William Colvig created a group in California.
Unlike Indonesian gamelans which are typically made of bronze, American gamelans are constructed from all sorts of materials including aluminum tubes, tin cans, car hubcaps, steel, antique milk-strainers, etc...
See also
External Links
- A New Gamelan (http://radiom.org/newgamelan.php), audio recording of Lou Harrison and William Colvig describing the theory and construction of one of the first American Gamelans, followed by a performance on it (free registration required at RadiOM)