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 in the development of the gamelan because it marked the change from the use of the "bonang" as the most important melody instrument, as it is in the earlier "Munggang" and "Kodokngorek" ensembles, to "leading" the ensemble by playing the pitches in anticipating patterns. In the ensemble, players sit on opposite sides of the "bonang", which may have led to the modern configuration of pots, which is aimed at making octaves comfortable. 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