Stainless Gamelan Stainless Gamelan John Cale: Inside the Dream Syndicate Volume 3, Stainless Gamelan or simply Stainless Gamelan (and sometimes incorrectly "Stainless "Steel" Gamelan", after the first track on the album) is an album by John Cale, better known for his work as the violist and founding member of the Velvet Underground. It is the fourth and final album in a loose anthology released by the independent label Table of the Elements. It follows "Sun Blindness Music", "Day Of Niagara" and "Dream Interpretation". "Stainless Gamelan", along with the other albums in the trilogy, involves Cale during his tenure with the minimalist group
Gamelan gamelan styles of Bali, Java, and Sunda resulted from different ways of mixing these elements. Thus, despite the seeming diversity of styles, many of the same theoretical concepts, instruments, and techniques are shared between the styles. A gamelan is a multi-timbre ensemble consisting of metallophones, xylophones, flutes, gongs, voices, as well as bowed and plucked strings. The hand-played drum called "kendhang" controls the tempo and rhythm of pieces as well as transitions from one section to another, while one instrument gives melodic cues to indicate treatment or sections of a piece. Some of the instruments that make up a gamelan