Actually, it's not that dissimilar to the problem I'd have if I decided to get rid of my book collections....

He should turn it into a ukulele.

I sent a link to this page to the chairman of my alma mater's percussion department...DEAR SIR YOU ARE KIND AND GENEROUS MUSIC CHAIRMAN GOD BE WITH YOU etc.

Mary Dell: BWAHAHAHA!!!

(now I'm envisioning trying to smuggle a gamelan out of Nigeria)

I'm guessing either too many caps, too many exclamation points or mention of an African nation one of whose exports is scam emails.

If Jon were to have a breeding pair of Unicorns stashed away somewhere, I might raise an eyebrow...

Wonderful Objects recognize Jon as a kindred species, and alight in his vicinity.

He needs to add some frickin' lasers. Gamelans with lasers!

My alma mater has long been proud of its complete Javanese gamelan. Perhaps it would be willing to acquire another?

jnh, 6: I wouldn't. If anybody in the world has a breeding pair of unicorns, it's Jon Singer.

Given that I'm still trying to find room for a piano and a pump organ, not to mention needing a 20 foot long shed constructed, I do not think I will be able to accept this offer.

meredith, #9: Wesleyan already has two full sets; it's unlikely they would have use for another. Colleges and universities are natural places to look for a home, although finding a room which can be dedicated to storage is the hard part.

HLN: Amorous unicorns distracted by clanging gamelan; breeding program in jeopardy

Gnomed. I blame the semicolon.

[Check your URL. You have http:// twice in a row. -- Mournie Robwos, Duty Gnome]

CU (colorado.edu) has a gamelan group in their music school. I suspect they might be interested. No clue as to whom to contact but horrible to navigate website might lead somewhere.

If you have a breeding pair of unicorns, does that mean you need a virgin to mind them?

The Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore may be interested. When I studied there they had a Gamelan Ensemble that performed fairly regularly.

The Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona

Mills College in Oakland has a Gamelan Ensemble as well; they may be interested. Although shipping that much metal gives me the shudders...

It would be my humble honor to be a steward of this Gamelan. I live in Brooklyn. I have a space and a van and would be more than willing with great honor and respect to care for the Javanese Gamelan you have. I can be available as soon as tomorrow to pick it up - this is an amazing opportunity that my team and I only dream of.

I lived and worked in Indoensia for 4 years, studying at the Institut Seni Indonesia in Yogyakarta. For the last 5 years I have birthed a project called the Gamelatron - it is the world's first and we believe only fully robotic gamelan orchestra. (http://gamelatron.com). The Gamelatron draws on the thousand-year-old sonic tradition of Indonesia--Gamelan--and the emerging field of robotics to create magical, viscerally-powerful, site-specific performances and temporary and permanent installations. Our mission is to informatively bring the legacy and creative cultural power of gamelan to new shores, new people and communities. We also aim, in the coming years, to develop ingenious methods to preserve and revive extraordinary gamelan traditions rarely heard or passed on to the new generation.

Taylor Kuffner
917 723 6340

I could use it if it were a Balinese Gamelan, but not a Javanese one, definitely not a JAVAVANESE Gamelan.

Ginger @8: You want Jon to add lasers to a gamelan?

You might check with the Lou Harrison House to see if they are interested:

http://www.harrisondocumentary.com/content.php?area=harr

The late Lou Harrison played, taught and composed for gamelan (among other things) for many years. The house he built in Joshua Tree, CA is now an artist residency and performance space.

Lewis and Clarke College in Portland, OR has a Javanese Gamelan ensemble, The Venerable Showers of Beauty. They may be interested in new instruments; contact is Mindy Johnston, vsbgamelan@gmail.com

That Gamelatron looks like a wondrous thing indeed.

Do gamelans take up more or less space than sets of steel pans? I ask because most of the secondary schools round here have steel pan bands, and gamelan is a *whole lot more musical*. So, surely there are schools that would embrace it. You just need to find the right one...

Taylor Kuffner @#17: please email Jon at the address shown up above, in case he doesn't see your comment here.

Hello Jon,
I am an alumnus of the University of Delaware, where there used to be a Gamelan.
The professor who owned the gamelan retired and took his instruments with him – then donated them to a small private school in Pennsylvania.
I played in Gamelan Lake of the Silver Bear for 20 years, and I miss it terribly

I would be happy to take the Gamelan off your hands, and will arrange transportation at no expense to you.
I would need just a little lead time to arrange time off work and to rent the truck.
I assure you that your gamelan would not only receive a good home, but would be the new host to a group of like-minded people who would actually relish the opportunity to play gamelan again.

I have a space where I can store the gamelan and where we can set up and play.

I look forward to hearing from you!
I included my phone number in an email directly to Jon.

#27 ::: Bill Naylor

I hope your plan works out. I used to go to Lake of the Silver Bear concerts, and it's sad to hear that they're (temporarily, I hope) over.

Has he checked the MiM?

http://mim.org/

For those wondering exactly what a gamelan looks and sounds like....

(My first reaction on reading this post was,
"Litheth, and lesteneth and herken to the plan,
And ye schul heere a tale of Singer's Gamelan.
Singer of Washington hath hit in his shede
And also picric acid and Nefertiti's heade.")

(My second reaction was "Singer has a gamelan, / E-I-E-I-O....")

A man, a plan, a gamelan, ale, mag, anal, panama!

You know it makes sense.

#30 ::: Jim Macdonald [what it looks/sounds like link]

I loved the woks -
"They're part of a complex musical instrument"
"Prepare delicious meals while you play"!

Teach ME to make fun of other cultures (however gently)...

marc sobel @15: CU (colorado.edu) has a gamelan group in their music school. I suspect they might be interested. No clue as to whom to contact but horrible to navigate website might lead somewhere.

Hah! Just before getting to this comment, on a wild hare, I sent off an email to the music school dean's assistant.

#30 Jim McDonald: - All I could hear was "Singer has a gamelan, doo dah, doo dah." I actually had to convince myself to switch to hear yours.

"ton-and-a-half of big brass band, oh, doo dah day"? (Yes, I know it's bronze)

And for another sample of "gamelan style," here's a version of the Gang of Four's "Not Great Men" done by an Indonesian gamelan:

http://youtu.be/K19jPwpP5XY

Beg pardon, the gamelan is Javanese and the name of the song is "Not For Great Men." Today is not my day.

The Gamelatron (that Taylor posted about above) is incredible. I'd love to see Jon Singer's Gamelan in Taylor's hands. It would be unfortunate to see such a wonderful piece sit in storage unused somewhere. I know Taylor personally, and I know he'd care for it and put it to good use. I can't think of a better place for this set to call home.

Please consider the offer by Taylor Kuffner (#19 post here). I have been a fan and supporter of his wonderful artistry with his Gamelon orchestra for many, many years. I know the reverence and joy he brings to this beautiful instrument.

I've seen the robotic gamelatron at the Tech Shop exhibition in San Francisco. The old and the new coming together in perfect harmony. Amazingness!

Please consider the offer by Taylor Kuffner (#19 post here). I have been a fan and supporter of his wonderful artistry with his Gamelon orchestra for many, many years. I know the reverence and joy he brings to this beautiful instrument.

Please consider this group for stewardship:

https://www.facebook.com/gamelatron.robotgamelan

They presented the instrument in all it's harmonic glory to the world at large at Burning Man's Temple of Transition in 2011. It was majestic and would make them able to share this art form with so many more people.

Thank You.

+1 for Taylor to have it! (http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/014711.html#1173612)

I have seen what Taylor has done with his Gamelatron at Burning Man, FIGMENT, and in other venues around the world. I know he would be a fantastic steward of this wonderful instrument and that he would put it to great use in making public art pieces that introduce many people to the amazing sounds this instrument can produce.

the indiana university school of music or art museum or someone here would love to have this as part of its museum/instrument/schools somewhere for sure - lemme help make this happen!

heath @ landlockedmusic . com - thanks!!

Bob, my guess is that Taylor (or one of his fans) notified his community of fans of this opportunity, and someone suggested they add their comments in support of him. The voices read differently enough to me that I doubt they all came from the same person, though it looks like #39 and #41 copy/pasted someone's suggested comment.

They also obviously misinterpreted Patrick's post as meaning he's the arbiter of the fate of Jon's gamelan, rather than the poster of a note about a friend's dilemma.

Bob @45: Those comments don't look like spam at all to me; they look like sincere testimonials to the coolness of the Gamelatron. I went and checked out their site with TNH late last night (or early this morning; we were up rather late) and there was much clapping of hands in delight at the possibility of Singer's gamelan becoming part of the first known robotic gamelan ongoing series of projects. We'll see what Jon thinks, but I bet he will be at least intrigued.

I'd disagree; I don't think they're spam. I do think there's a possibility they're sockpuppetry, though it's also quite possible that they're simply people who heard about this because of a posting on a Taylor fansite or a gamelan list that has a lot of Taylor fans.

In any case, Jon will be the one to make the final choice as to the disposition of the gamelan, and knowing Jon, I'm sure he'll choose carefully and well, and the gamelan will be played and enjoyed for years to come.

Do note that this post has been BoingBoinged. So an influx of new posters, some of them previously acquainted elseweb, is entirely reasonable.

Having said that, we do always appreciate people's efforts to identify spam and highlight questionable commenting patterns. False positives are, therefore, welcome signs of care, and to be applauded.

Also, I appear to have, a, comma, problem, tonight.

Hi - This is Taylor Kuffner of the Gamelatron Project (#19 n the thread). It appears that some friends and fans have posted here in support of us becoming the stewards of Jon's gamelan.

My apologies - I dont think any of it is spam. I actually have received about 15 emails and 20 Facebook postings about this since it hit Boing-boing last night. I think that more than anything the people in my community feel very strongly about the Gamelatron project for what it has contributed to their lives and when I mentioned that this would be a once in a lifetime opportunity and that it is something that we would be honored to shepherd, I think they wanted to show their support.

I have emailed Jon and offered us to him. I trust that he will do what he feels is the right thing for the instruments.

Wherever these instruments end up, I hope they are loved and that they can share their special powers with others.
Be well.

Don't worry abi I will save you from the commas if you would like. Under the circumstances I will forego comma use however much I might otherwise prefer to use them so that those poor sad crowded commas may find a new home.

I just tried commenting but it did not go through oddly enough.
Just a note, this is Taylor from the Gamelatron Prtoject (thread #19). Since this post went out on Boingboing last night I have recieved about 15 emails and 20 Facebook postings about it.

I do not think people are spamming - rather I responded to some of these posts with a lot of enthusiasm and some of our friends and fans responded by sharing their support. This project has touched a lot of people and really served them and in return we have a lot of dear supporters.

My apologies for any random posts - I have emailed Jon and shared with him our request for stewardship and our abilities to pick it up immediately and give it a great home and community.

thanks

Now you're scaring me, Fade.

My faith in the wonderfulness of my universe is confirmed by the fact that several people sincerely wish to take useful custody of Singer's gamelan.

But I am not in the least surprised that Singer has a gamelan to dispose of. Nor would I be surprise to learn that he had fitted it with frickin' lasers.

Cornell has about 50 instruments in their set, but they might want more (it's very popular in the music department):

http://music.cornell.edu/about-us/facilities-and-instruments/cornell-gamelan/

Taylor #50 & 52--

Your post(s) was/were held for moderation by an accidental pattern match on the number of e-mails you'd received. Nothing to do with your project, linked URLs, or email address.

-- JDM

My own personal opinion is that if Taylor does end up with the gamelan, he should add at least one laser to his system!

Taylor: you probably got caught by the spam-blockers, AKA the gnomes. There's some patterns of spaces and punctuation that trigger posts being held, but the gnomes do go through and release them. Even if you don't bribe them with tasty food [grin].

Oh, and welcome to Making Light.

Taylor #50 & 52 --

Your post(s) was/were held for moderation by an accidental pattern match on the number of e-mails you'd received. Nothing to do with your project, linked URLs, or email address.

-- JDM

Dear all --

We've told Jon that things are happening in this thread. He's been in transit and dealing with some other complications.

I just wanted to bask for a moment in the glow of this sentiment:

#50 Taylor Kuffner: I trust that he will do what he feels is the right thing for the instruments.

Jim, #30: Wow. I've been interested in gamelan, in the abstract, ever since running across a reference to it in The Interior Life. Over the years I've actually picked up a few gamelan CDs, but they all seem to have vocals in them. That video is much more like the description in the book! Would anyone know where I can find this kind of gamelan music?

Lee, 62: Jon recommended the CD "Java: the Jasmine Isle" to me, but I totally forgot to google it until just now. It's available on iTunes and probably other places as well.

abi: I'm sure that Fade's parents Ayn Rand and God will reassure you.

abi @49: Hopefully your condition receives the appropriate treatment. (I, for one, would hate to see things deteriorate to the point that you become commatose.)

If Abi went commatoes, that would put pause at the ends of her feet; if it weren't for the cat we wouldn't know from paws.

63
Nonesuch Music has it and several other gamelan recordings.

Lee, 62: If you're looking for purely instrumental gamelan music, you might try searching using the term 'klenangan' (though that's actually the somewhat longer, more contemplative music, and not necessarily only instrumental). If you're not interested in vocals, you should avoid anything mentioning 'pesindhen' (the female solo vocalist) or 'kecak' (the monkey chant). These aren't hard-and-fast rules, since pesindhen is almost another instrument, but it might help somewhat. (I used to play in the local gamelan ensemble, and still try to get to all of their concerts.)

Just as a data point: when I was playing in the local gamelan ensemble, since the rehearsal space was not really suited for a large audience, pretty much every performance involved moving the instruments from the rehearsal space to the concert space, wherever it was, and then moving them back afterwards. (Many concerts only involve one of the scales, just to make the transportation issues easier.) I don't know if that's true for every non-Indonesian gamelan (gamelans in Indonesia, I understand, are located in places that are suitable for large audiences), but it's true here in Minneapolis.

Smithsonian Folkways is also another great source for gamelan recordings:

http://www.folkways.si.edu/

Just for grins, I e-mailed an old friend with this link. She lives in the Washington D.C. area.

She returned a message of "Wow! I have to send this on to someone in (such-and-such) Program!"

So, who knows? Perhaps a nibble is coming Jon's way.

Crazy(but sometimes in the right place to matter)Soph

Not only am I not surprised that Jon Singer has a gamelan, I am not surprised that the Fluorosphere has multiple solutions.

AKICI Making Light!

Many years ago I was at a science fiction convention in Bergen, Norway. I met a man there from Germany, who, when I told him I was from California, asked "Do you know Jon Singer?" Well, duh. He was one of the first people I met when I moved out here. I see he has moved on, but will never be forgotten.

Karen Williams @73: He was one of the first people I met when I moved out here.

You met him at the west-most extent of his cross-continental migration. (He started out in NY, and the running joke for years was that he was making his way generally westward across the continental US.) It'll be interesting to see if, now that he has re-set, he'll trend across again.

TomB @21: Precisely! (But that reminds me: I should make sure my house is not in the line of sight of his frikken laser.)

I, however, am really surprised that nobody has nibbled on that "for reasons too complicated to explain" part. I'm wondering what the "perfectly Jon Singerish" explanation is for Jon having a gamelan! Does the story somehow involve lasers, or ceramics, or genetically engineered blue roses?

Matt: To the best of my knowledge, no (except insofar as these are all of a piece when it comes to Jon Singer).

I will wager it has something to do with his participation in gamelan concerts at the Indonesian embassy. And his tendancy to acquire the "stuff" associated with his interests.

Which-all, of course, has nothing whatever to do with Jon Singer.

Jacque @77 -- he probably won his election because of name recognition.

Tom: Hah—! :-)

So will we find out where the gamelan ends up?

Well, as long as the robotic people's fans are chipping in, I feel I should chip in on behalf of the Delaware people. If they're planning to restart a performing troupe that has been in abeyance for lack of an instrument-set, it seems they have the greater "need". After all, the robotics people have one (or more) gamelan[s] at present, while the Delaware people have zero. And 1/0 is infinitely greater than 2/1.

I, for reasons too complicated to be explained, found myself renting a truck many years back to move the wind chests and other parts of a pipe organ (but not the console or the pipes) from a church to a friend's garage. I understand the stuff did eventually get moved elsewhere.

While I find myself hearing "I will explain. ...No, it is too complicated. I will summarize."

--Dave, there's probably also an Alice quote, other than six impossible things before breakfast even

Do you know where Laurel, Maryland, is and want to help Jon shift some tech stuff on Saturday? See his post on LiveJournal.

I have other commitments on Saturday, so I'll miss out on the Cool Stuff.

Comment being held. I posted it first to the wrong thread, so if you could eliminate that errant one I'd appreciate it.

[Three spaces in a row is what got it held. Duplicate destroyed. -- Boro Tisalni, Duty Gnome]

Purely out of curiosity, do you know if anyone has composed or arranged an aubade for gamelan?