'mixed 7th' in SDSU 'Haruman' gamelan concert

[TD 622.4, me:]

>... using a variety of pentatonic scales that had
>some very xenharmonic intervals in them. The gamelan section
>I liked most was the one just after the end of the story,
>before the closing song. It had 'major' sound, with a type
>of 'major 7th' as part of the melody, but with some instruments
>adding a really funky 'neutral-tending-to minor 7th' in some parts.

This concert was my first serious exposure to gamelan,
which I've heard on CD but never learned much about.
It never really 'grabbed' me before.

Perhaps those who know more about pelog and slendro can
elucidate if this description 'rings any bells'
(<groan...> bad pun intended).

That mixing of the 'major 7th' and the 'neutral/minor 7th'
(thrown in on a groovy syncopation or polymeter on an instrument
with a flat bell-like timbre with a quick decay, kind of like
a steel drum) will live on long in my aural memory. As a person
with an analytical bent, I'd love to 'know' (if I can reconstruct)
what was going on there.

(maybe a gamelan list would be interested...)

-monz

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