American Gamelan Institute for both new and traditional gamelan music, scholarly writings on gamelan, as well as audio and video recordings. Its founder and director is the composer and gamelan musician Jody Diamond. The organization's scope includes gamelan music as practiced in Indonesia as well as around the world. The journal Balungan was started in 1984 to encourage a dialog between artists and scholars involved in gamelan. Current and back issues of "Balungan" are on line, and many libraries have subscriptions. The sixteenth issue was printed in December 2010. The Institute also has a podcast, called "Gongcast" and hosts directories of gamelan groups
Gamelan Sekaten Gamelan Sekaten The Gamelan Sekaten (or Sekati) is a ceremonial gamelan (musical ensemble) from central Java, Indonesia, played during the annual "Sekaten" festival. The word ""sekaten"" itself is derived from "syahadatain" or "shahada", the first requirement for converting into Islamic faith. Traditionally it is played once per year, on the occasion of "Mawlid", Muhammad's birthday, for the week from the 6-12 of the month of "Mulud" (the third month of the Javanese calendar, corresponding to the Islamic "Rabi' al-awwal"). On this celebration it is brought from the palace at 11 pm to two pavilions before the Great Mosque. It is