Pelog

One rough approximation expresses the seven pitches of Central Javanese pelog as a subset of 9-tone equal temperament.

An analysis of 27 Central Javanese gamelans by Surjodiningrat (1972) revealed a statistical preference for this system of tuning.

The beating is ideally at a consistent speed for all pairs of notes in all registers, producing stretched octaves as a result.

In the religious ceremonies that contain gamelan, these interference beats are meant to give the listener a feeling of a god's presence or a stepping stone to a meditative state.

Notation equivalents for pélog in both Javanese and Sundanese notation: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 ji ro lu pat mo nem pi 5 4 3 -3 2 1 +5 la ti na ni mi da leu Although the full pelog scale has seven tones, usually only a five-tone subset is used (see the similar Western concept of mode).

The modes all start on the note named ding, and then continue going up the scale to dong, deng, dung and dang.

Selisir is the most often encountered, being the tuning of the popular Gamelan gong kebyar, and may be considered the "default" pelog scale.

[6] With the advent of the gamelan semara dana and renewed interest in seven-tone music, a number of other modes have been discovered by extending the 3/2 rule to other possible positions.

In these modes, ding is often placed at the first note of a two-note sequence in the 3-2 pattern, reflecting common practice in slendro ensembles.