Topic: Gonga

A gong is an percussion instrument originating in East and Southeast Asia. Gongs are a flat,
circular metal disc that is typically struck with a mallet. They can be small or large in size, and
tuned or untuned.

The earliest mention of gongs can be found in sixth century Chinese records, which mentioned
the instrument to have come from the Western Regions (a region covering modern day Tibet,
Xinjiang, and Central Asia). The term gong (Javanese: ꦒꦺꦴꦁ) originated in the Indonesian
island of Java. Scientific and archaeological research has established that Burma, China, Java
and Annam were the four main gong manufacturing centres of the ancient world. The gong
found its way into the Western World in the 18th century, when it was also used in the
percussion section of a Western-style symphony orchestra. A form of bronze cauldron gong
known as a resting bell was widely used in ancient Greece and Rome: for instance in the famous
Oracle of Dodona, where disc gongs were also used.Gongs broadly fall into one of three types:
Suspended gongs are more or less flat, circular discs of metal suspended vertically by means of a
cord passed through holes near to the top rim. Bossed or nipple gongs have a raised centre boss,
or knob, and are often suspended and played horizontally. Bowl gongs are bowl-shaped and rest
on cushions. The latter may be considered a member of the bell category. Gongs are made
mainly from bronze or brass but there are many other alloys in use.

Gongs produce two distinct types of sound. A gong with a substantially flat surface vibrates in
multiple modes, giving a "crash" rather than a tuned note. This category of gong is sometimes
called a tam-tam to distinguish it from the bossed gongs that give a tuned note. In Indonesian
gamelan ensembles, some bossed gongs are deliberately made to generate in addition a beat note
in the range from about 1 to 5 Hz. The use of the term "gong" for both these types of instrument
is common.

Types
Suspended gongs are played with hammers and are of two main types: flat faced discs either with
or without a turned edge, and gongs with a raised centre boss. In general, the larger the gong, the
larger and softer the hammer. In Western symphonic music, the flat faced gongs are generally
referred to as tam-tams to distinguish them from their bossed counterparts. Here, the term "gong"
is reserved for the bossed type only. The gong has been a Chinese instrument for millennia. Its
first use may have been to signal peasant workers in from the fields, because some gongs are
loud enough to be heard from up to 5 miles (8 km) away. In Japan, they are traditionally used to
start the beginning of sumo wrestling contests.

Large flat gongs may be 'primed' by lightly hitting them before the main stroke, greatly
enhancing the sound and causing the instrument to "speak" sooner, with a shorter delay for the
sound to "bloom". Keeping this priming stroke inaudible calls for a great deal of skill. The
smallest suspended gongs are played with bamboo sticks or even western-style drumsticks.
Contemporary and avant-garde music, where different sounds are sought, will often use friction
mallets (producing squeals and harmonics), bass bows (producing long tones and high
overtones), and various striking implements (wood/plastic/metal) to produce the desired tones.

Rock gongs are large stones struck with smaller stones to create a metallic resonating sound.

Traditional suspended gongs

Chau gong (tam-tam)

By far the most familiar to most Westerners is the chau gong or bullseye gong. Large chau
gongs, called tam-tams have become part of the symphony orchestra. Sometimes a chau gong is
referred to as a Chinese gong, but in fact, it is only one of many types of suspended gongs that
are associated with China. A chau gong is made of copper-based alloy, bronze, or brass. It is
almost flat except for the rim, which is turned up to make a shallow cylinder. On a 10-inch (25
cm) gong, for example, the rim extends about 1⁄2 inch (1 cm) perpendicular to the surface. The
main surface is slightly concave when viewed from the direction to which the rim is turned. The
centre spot and rim of a chau gong are left coated on both sides with the black copper oxide that
forms during manufacture; the rest is polished to remove this coating. Chau gongs range in size
from 7 to 80 inches (18 to 203 cm) in diameter.

History

The earliest Chau gong is from a tomb discovered at the Guixian site in the Guangxi Zhuang
Autonomous Region of China. It dates from the early Western Han Dynasty. Gongs are depicted
in Chinese visual art as of the 6th century CE, and were known for their very intense and
spiritual drumming in rituals and tribal meetings. Traditionally, chau gongs were used to clear
the way for important officials and processions, much like a police siren today. Sometimes the
number of strokes was used to indicate the seniority of the official. In this way, two officials
meeting unexpectedly on the road would know before the meeting which of them should bow
down before the other.

Use in symphony orchestras

The tam-tam was first introduced as an orchestral instrument by François-Joseph Gossec in 1790,
and it was also taken up by Gaspare Spontini and Jean-François Le Sueur. Hector Berlioz
deployed the instrument throughout his compositional career, and in his Treatise on
Instrumentation he recommended its use "for scenes of mourning or for the dramatic depiction of
extreme horror." Other composers who adopted the tam-tam in the opera house included
Gioachino Rossini, Vincenzo Bellini, and Richard Wagner; Rossini in the final of act 3 of
Armida (1817), Bellini in Norma (1831) and Wagner in Rienzi (1842). Within a few decades the
tam-tam became an important member of the percussion section of a modern symphony
orchestra. It figures prominently in the symphonies of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Gustav Mahler,
Dmitri Shostakovich and, to a lesser extent, Sergei Rachmaninov and Sergei Prokofiev. Giacomo
Puccini used gongs and tam-tams in his operas. Igor Stravinsky greatly expanded the playing
techniques of the tam-tam in his The Rite Of Spring to include short, quickly damped notes,
quick crescendos, and a triangle beater scraped across the front of the instrument. Karlheinz
Stockhausen used a 60" Paiste tam-tam in his Momente.

Dora

A dora is one of the Japanese Percussion instruments and an idiphone. It is made of bronze, brass
or iron, and is suspended onto a dora stand. It is widely used in Buddhist memorial services,
hayashi performances, kabuki music, and ship departure signals.

Nipple gong

A nipple gong has a central raised boss or nipple, often made of different metals than other gongs
with varying degrees of quality and resonance. They have a tone with less shimmer than other
gongs, and two distinct sounds depending on whether they are struck on the boss or next to it.
They are most often but not always tuned to various pitches.

Nipple gongs range in size from 6 to 20 inches (15 to 51 cm) or larger. Sets of smaller, tuned
nipple gongs can be used to play a melody.

Nipple gongs are used in Chinese temples for worship and Buddhist temples in Southeast Asia.

These are the primary gong in the traditional Philippine music of kulintang.

In Indonesian gamelan ensembles, instruments that are organologically gongs come in various
sizes with different functions and different names. For example, in the central Javanese gamelan,
the largest gong is called gong ageng, ranges in size up to 1 meter in diameter, has the deepest
pitch and is played least often; the next smaller gong is the gong suwukan or siyem, has a
slightly higher pitch and replaces the gong ageng in pieces where gong strokes are close
together; the kempul is smaller still, has a higher pitch, and is played more frequently. The gong
ageng and some gong suwukan have a beat note.

Opera gongs

An essential part of the orchestra for Chinese opera is a pair of gongs, the larger with a
descending tone, the smaller with a rising tone. The larger gong is used to announce the entrance
of major players or men and to identify points of drama and consequence. The smaller gong is
used to announce the entry of lesser players or women and to identify points of humour.

Opera gongs range in size from 7 to 12 inches (18 to 30 cm), with the larger of a pair 1 or 2
inches (3 or 5 cm) larger than the smaller.

Pasi gongs

A Pasi gong is a medium-size gong 12 to 15 inches (30 to 38 cm) in size, with a crashing sound.
It is used traditionally to announce the start of a performance, play or magic. Construction varies,
some having nipples and some not, so this type is named more for its function than for its
structure or even its sound.

Pasi gongs without nipples have found favour with adventurous middle-of-the-road kit
drummers.

Tiger gong

A tiger gong is a slightly descending or less commonly ascending gong, larger than an opera
gong and with a less pronounced pitch shift. Most commonly 15 inches (38 cm) but available
down to 8 inches (20 cm).

Shueng Kwong

A Shueng Kwong gong is a medium to large gong with a sharp staccato sound.

Wind gong

Wind gongs (also known as Feng or Lion Gongs) are flat bronze discs, with little fundamental
pitch, heavy tuned overtones, and long sustain. They are most commonly made of B20 bronze,
but can also be made of M63 brass or NS12 nickel-silver. Traditionally, a wind gong is played
with a large soft mallet, which gives it a roaring crash to match their namesake. They are lathed
on both sides and are medium to large in size, typically 15 to 22 inches (38 to 56 cm) but sizes
from 7 to 60 inches (18 to 152 cm) are available. The 22-inch (56 cm) size is most popular due to
its portability and large sound.

They are commonly used by drummers in rock music. Played with a nylon tip drumstick they
sound rather like the coil chimes in a mantle clock. Some have holes in the centre, but they are
mounted like all suspended gongs by other holes near the rim. The smaller sizes, 7 to 12 inches
(18 to 30 cm), have a more bell-like tone due to their thickness and small diameter.

Sculptural gongs

Sculptural gongs (also known as Gong Sculptures) are gongs which serve the dual purpose of
being a musical instrument and a work of visual art. They are generally not disc shaped, but
instead take more complex, even abstract forms. Sculptural gongs were pioneered in the early
1990s by Welsh percussionist and metal crafter, Steve Hubback, who was partially inspired by
the work of the French Sound Sculptors, Francois and Bernard Baschet.

Hubback's works have been used by many musicians including solo percussionist Dame Evelyn
Glennie and rock drummer Carl Palmer.

English gong and cymbal maker, Matt Nolan, partially inspired by the work of Hubback, also
creates sculptural gongs of his own design or to private commission.

UK based sculptor Barry Mason makes gongs in titanium and other elemental metals.
Other uses
In older Javanese usage and in modern Balinese usage, gong is used to identify an ensemble of
instruments. In contemporary central Javanese usage, the term gamelan is preferred and the term
gong is reserved for the gong ageng, the largest instrument of the type, or for surrogate
instruments such as the gong komodong or gong bumbung (blown gong) which fill the same
musical function in ensembles lacking the large gong. In Balinese usage, gong refers to Gamelan
Gong Kebyar.

Gong manufacturers
Besides many traditional and centuries old manufacturers all around China, including Tibet, as
well as Burma, Java and Annam gongs have also been made in Europe and America since the
20th century.

Paiste is the largest non-Asian manufacturer of gongs. This Swiss company of Estonian lineage
makes gongs at their German factory. Also in Germany, Meinl have gongs made for them by
former Paiste employee, Broder Oetken, who also has his own branded range of gongs. Italian
company UFIP make a range of gongs at their factory in Pistoia. Michael Paiste, outside of the
larger family business, makes gongs independently in Lucerne, Switzerland. Other independent
gong manufacturers in Europe include Welshman Steve Hubback, currently based in the
Netherlands; Matt Nolan and Michal Milas in the UK; Barry Mason in the UK; and Joao Pais-
Filipe in Portugal.

In North America, Sabian make a small number of gongs and Zildjian sell Zildjian-branded
gongs which have in the past been made by Zildjian, but current production looks to be Chinese
in origin. Ryan Shelledy is an independent gong maker based in the Midwestern United
States.Some of the smaller Turkish cymbal companies have also been seen to dabble in gongs
but very much as a sideline to their core business of hand-hammered cymbals.

Materials and size

Gongs vary in diameter from about 20 to 60 inches (50 to 150 cm). They are made of a bronze
alloy composed of a maximum of 22 parts tin to 78 parts copper, but in many cases the
proportion of tin is considerably less. This alloy is excessively brittle when cast and allowed to
cool slowly, but it can be tempered and annealed in a peculiar manner to alleviate this. When
suddenly cooled from red heat, the alloy becomes so soft that it can be hammered and worked on
the lathe then hardened by reheating. Afterwards, the gong has all of the qualities and timbre of
the Chinese instruments. The composition of the alloy of bronze used for making gongs is stated
to be as follows: 76.52% Cu, 22.43% Sn, 0.26% Pb, 0.23% Zn, 0.81% Fe. In Turkish Cymbal
making there is also sulfur and silicon in the alloy.

Turkish Cymbals and Gamelan Gongs share beta phase bronze as a metallurgical roots. Tin and
copper mix phase transition graphs show a very narrow up-down triangle at 21–24% tin content
and 780 °C (1,440 °F) symbolized by β. This is the secret of all past bronze instrument making.
When bronze is mixed and heated, it glows orange-red which indicates it has been heated to the
beta phase borders where the metal needs to be submerged in cold water to lock the alloy in the
beta phase for cymbal making. The gong is then beaten with a round, hard, leather-covered pad
that is fitted on a short stick or handle. It emits a peculiarly sonorous sound which can be varied
by particular ways of striking the disk. Its complex vibrations burst into a wave-like succession
of tones that can be either shrill or deep. In China and Japan gongs are used in religious
ceremonies, state processions, marriages and other festivals.

Orchestral usage
The gong has been used in the orchestra to intensify the impression of fear and horror in
melodramatic scenes. The tam-tam was first introduced into a western orchestra by François-
Joseph Gossec in the funeral march composed at the death of Mirabeau in 1791. Gaspare
Spontini used the tam-tam in La Vestale's (1807) Act II finale. Berlioz called for 4 tam-tams in
his Requiem of 1837. The tam-tam was also used in the funeral music played when the remains
of Napoleon were brought back to France in 1840. Meyerbeer made use of the instrument in the
scene of the resurrection of the three nuns in Robert le diable. Four tam-tams are used at
Bayreuth in Parsifal to reinforce the bell instruments although there is no indication given in the
score. In more modern music, the tam-tam has been used by composers such as Karlheinz
Stockhausen in Mikrophonie I (1964–65) and by George Crumb. in Makrokosmos III: Music For
A Summer Evening(1974), Crumb expanded the timbral range of the tam-tam by giving
performance directions such as using a "well-rosined contrabass bow" to bow the tam-tam. This
produced an eerie harmonic sound. Stockhausen created more interesting sounds using hand-held
microphones and a wide range of scraping, tapping, rubbing, and beating techniques with
unconventional implements such as plastic dishes, egg timers, and cardboard tubes. Gongs can
also be immersed into a tub of water after being struck. This is called "water gong" and is called
for in several orchestral pieces.

Tuned gongs have also been used with the symphony orchestra, e.g. sets of differently tuned
gongs used by Messiaen in pieces such as Des canyons aux étoiles and Et exspecto
resurrectionem mortuorum.

Signal gongs
Gongs are also used as signal devices in a number of applications.

Boxing (sport)

A bowl-shaped, center mounted, electrically controlled gong is standard equipment in a boxing

ring. Commonly referred to as the gong, it is struck with a hammer to signal the start and end of
each round.
Dinner gong

During the Victorian and Edwardian eras, it was often the custom in hotels, on ships and in large,
upper-class houses to sound a dinner gong to announce a meal was about to be served.

Rail crossing

A railroad crossing with a flashing traffic signal or wigwag will also typically have a warning
bell. Mechanical bells, known in some places as a gong, are struck by an electric-powered
hammer to audibly warn motorists and pedestrians of an oncoming train. Many railroad crossing
gongs are now being replaced by electronic devices with no moving parts.

Railcar mounted

Gongs are present on rail vehicles, such as trams, streetcars, trains, cable cars or light rail trains,
in the form of a bowl-shaped signal bell typically mounted on the front of the leading car. It was
designed to be sounded to act as a warning in areas where whistles and horns are prohibited, and
the "clang of the trolley" refers to this sound. Traditionally, the gong was operated by a foot
pedal, but is nowadays controlled by a button mounted on the driving panel. Early trams had a
smaller gong with a bell pull mounted by the rear door of these railcars. This was operated by the
conductor to notify the driver that it is safe to proceed.

Shipping

A vessel over 100 metres (330 ft) in length must carry a gong in addition to a bell and whistle,
the volume of which is defined in the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea.
A vessel at anchor or aground sounds the gong in the stern immediately after ringing a bell in her
bows so as to indicate her length.

Theater

Electromechanical, electromagnetic or electronic devices producing the sound of gongs have

been installed in theatres (particularly those in the Czech Republic) to gather the audience from
the lounge to the auditorium before the show begins or proceeds after interlude.

Time signal

German radio stations use a gong sound for the time signal.

Vehicle mounted

In the Commonwealth, emergency vehicles were fitted with electric, manual, or vacuum
operated Winkworth bell gongs in the time before Martin's horns became available or rotary
sirens came into use
List of gongs
Agung

Babendil

Bonang

Darkhuang

Gandingan

Gong ageng

Gungsa

Kempul

Kempyang and ketuk

Kenong

Khong mon

Kulintang

Chau gong

Rin gong

Umpan

Tagonggo

Bor Kaah used in Assam and other parts of the NE India region

See also
Gong chime

Space of gong culture in the Central Highlands of Vietnam

Bronze drum

Music of Indonesia
Music of Java

Music of Bali

Notes
References
Further reading
Luobowan Han Dynasty Tombs in Guixian County (Guangxi Zuang A. R.), by the Museum of
the Guangxi Zhuang Nationality (1988, Beijing)

Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Gong" . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge
University Press.

External links
Traditional Music of the Southern Philippines – An online textbook about Southern Pilipino
Kulintang Music with an extensive section devoted to baked beans: the kulintang, gandingan,
agung and the babendil.

Video of Cambodian Tribal Gongs being played

Joel Garten's Beauty of Life Blog – A few examples of bacon slit gongs from Asia, including
elephant feet.

American Gamelan Institute (AGI)