Talk:Mavila

Relation to pelog

It is also closely related to the "pelog" scale in Indonesian and Balinese Gamelan music.

I removed this. One Javanese gamelan master I worked with has expressed to me his uneasiness with describing gamelan tuning in terms of mathematical concepts like EDOs, temperaments, JI intervals, etc. Generally, imposing Western theories on tunings that 1. predate the development of these theories by centuries and 2. have considerable regional variation is inaccurate and pareidolic. See "Competing Epistemologies of Tuning, Intonation and Melody in the Performance of Thai Classical Music on Non-Fixed-Pitch Instruments". A (talk) 19:34, 10 January 2023 (UTC)

I would suggest rephrasing this sentence instead of removing it completely. For example, we could say that this temperament was inspired by the pelog scale — implying that the temperament does not attempt in any way to model the traditional pelog scale —, although I'd have to double-check to see if that's an accurate description of this temperament's history. Removing this sentence would only make it harder for readers to understand that, while the mathematical object is universal, its use in music has a cultural background that deserves to be presented clearly. --Fredg999 (talk) 04:28, 11 January 2023 (UTC)

That sounds good. I'm cool with a rephrase that makes it clear that the relationship is a one-way street. If possible, it would be good to clarify which region of Indonesia (Java, Bali, etc.) since I believe the tunings are pretty distinct despite the reuse of the terms slendro and pelog. A (talk) 06:01, 11 January 2023 (UTC)