American gamelan materials including aluminum, tin cans, car hubcaps, steel, antique milk-strainers, etc. "American gamelan" may also describe the original music of American ensembles working with traditional instruments. Dennis Murphy is often credited as being the first American to build instruments modeled on those of the Javanese gamelan, circa 1960. This work led to his doctoral thesis at Wesleyan University, entitled "The Autochthonous American Gamelan". Murphy started a gamelan group with his instruments at Goddard College in Vermont in 1967; that group later became the community-based Plainfield Village Gamelan. There have been other American builders of gamelan as well, on both the
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