Tuning a Balinese Gamelan (and an Italian Harpsichord): Colors, Affects, Temperaments, and Sacred Directions

An interdisciplinary presentation and video conference presented on Friday, Feb. 26 at 3pm PST.

This was a comparative investigation of the tuning systems of Bali, Indonesia and those of Europe (Italy, France, Germany), and their many strange but fascinating parallels. The discussion explored the discordances and “errors” of tunings and temperaments, and how they have been treated over time; religious, spatial, and cosmological interpretations of intervals and scales; colors, affects, and other extra-musical associations of tones; and more. It also touched on acoustics, the evolution of instruments and tastes in tunings, and the effect of these issues for composers and performers.