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What dictionaries are saying

Gamelan : dans les dictionnaires

Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary
Merriam-Webster Inc., 1984

gamelan n [Jav] (1817) : an Indonesian orchestra consisting chiefly of percussion instruments (as gongs, xylophones, and drums)

Our observations

The choice for the word xylophones rather than metallophones for their example comes from the fact the Western reader knows the wood-keyed instrument better than its metal-keyed equivalent.

 

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