Gong

''This article is about a type of musical instrument. For other uses of the word "gong", see gong (disambiguation).'' A gong is any one of a wide variety of metal percussion instruments. The term is Malayu-Javanese in origin but widespread throughout Asia. The instrument itself appears to have origins in the bronze drums of China, cymbals of central Asia, and perhaps even in European bell-casting techniques. Primitive drums are know as slit gongs. Gongs are broadly of two types. Suspended gongs are more or less flat, circular disks of metal suspended vertically by means of a cord passed through holes near to the top rim. Bowl gongs are bowl-shaped, and rest on cushions. Gongs are made mainly from bronze or brass but there are many other cymbal alloys in use. ==Types of gong== Suspended gongs are played with beaters. In general, the larger the gong, the larger and softer the beater. Large gongs may be 'primed' by lightly hitting them before the main stroke, greatly enhancing the sound. 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. Bowl gongs may be played in many different ways, not all of them strictly percussion. The rim may be rubbed with the finger, for example, or the gong may be struck with a beater. Bowl gongs are used in temple worship, especially in Buddhism. ==Traditional suspended gongs== ===Chau gongs===

''A 10" Chau Gong''

By far the most familiar to most Westerners is the ''chau gong'' or ''bullseye gong''. Large chau gongs, called ''tam-tams'' (not to be confused with tom-tom drums), 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. The 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" gong, for example, the rim extends about an half an inch perpendicular to the gong surface. The main surface is slightly concave when viewed from the direction to which the rim is turned. The centre spot and the rim of a chau gong are left coated on both sides with the black copper oxide that forms during the manufacture of the gong, the rest of the gong is polished to remove this coating. Chau gongs range in size from 7" to 80" in diameter. Karlheinz Stockhausen used a 60" tam-tam in his Mikrophonie #1. 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 on the gong 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. ===Nipple gongs=== Nipple gongs have a raised boss or nipple in the centre, often made of a different metal to the rest of the gong. They have a clear resonant tone with less shimmer than other gongs, and two distinct sounds depending on whether they are struck on the boss or next to it. Nipple gongs range in size from 6" to 14" or larger. Sets of smaller, tuned nipple gongs can be used to play a tune. A Bau gong is a type of nipple gong used in Chinese temples for worship. ===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, of men, and to identify points of drama and consequence. The smaller gong is used to announce the entry of lesser players, of women, and to identify points of humour. Opera gongs range in size from 7" to 12", with the larger of a pair one or two inches larger than the smaller. ===Pasi gongs=== A Pasi gong is a medium-size gong 12" to 15" 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 more named 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" but available down to 8". ===Shueng Kwong=== A Sheng Kwong gong is a medium to large gong with a sharp staccato sound. ===Wind gong=== Wind gongs are flat and heavy, with a high pitched, heavy tuned overtone and long sustain. Played with a nylon tip drumstick they sound a bit 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. They are lathed both sides and are medium to large in size, typically 15" to 22" but sizes from 7" to 40" are available. Wind gongs are the type most commonly used by heavy rock and roll drummers. Traditionally, a wind gong is played with a large soft mallet, which gives a completely different sound to a drumstick. ==Modern orchestral gongs== As well as the tam-tam, there are a number of new gong types that were created during the 20th century specifically for orchestral use. ===Planet gongs=== A series of 14 tuned gongs by Paiste, ranging in size from 24" to 38". ===Sound Creation gongs=== A series of 13 theme gongs by Paiste, ranging in size from 11" to 60". ==Gong - general== In older Java (island)nese 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 bumbu (blown gong) which fill the same musical function in ensembles lacking the large gong. In Balinese usage, gong refers to Gamelan Gong Kebyar. ==Gongs - general== ''The article below from a Britannica Public Domain has been considerably updated but needs more and perhaps eventual merging with the above material'' A gong (鑼 pinyin luo2; Malay language or Javanese language: gong-gong or tam-tam) is a percussion sonorous or instrument of China origin and manufacture, made in the form of a broad thin disk with a deep rim, that has spread to Southeast Asia, a flat bell if you like. Gongs vary in diameter from about 20 to 40 in., and they are made of bronze containing a maximum of 22 parts of tin to 78 of copper; but in many cases the proportion of tin is considerably less. Such an alloy, when cast and allowed to cool slowly, is excessively brittle, but it can be tempered and annealing in a peculiar manner. If suddenly cooled from a cherry-red heat, the alloy becomes so soft that it can be hammered and worked on the lathe, and afterwards it may be hardened by re-heating and cooling it slowly. In these properties it will be observed, the alloy behaves in a manner exactly opposite to steel, and the Chinese avail themselves of the known peculiarities for preparing the thin sheets of which gongs are made. They cool their castings of bronze in water, and after hammering out the alloy in the soft state, harden the finished gongs by heating them to a cherry-red and allowing them to cool slowly. These properties of the alloy long remained a secret, said to have been first discovered in Europe by Jean Pierre Joseph d'Arcet at the beginning of the 19th century. Riche and Champion are said to have succeeded in producing tam-tams having all 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: Copper, 76.52; Tin, 22.43; Lead, 0.26; Zinc, 0.23; Iron, 0.81. The gong is beaten with a round, hard, leather-covered pad, fitted on a short stick or handle. It emits a peculiarly sonorous sound, its complex vibrations bursting into a wave-like succession of pitch (music)s, sometimes shrill, sometimes deep. In China and Japan it is used in religious ceremonies, state processions, marriages and other festivals; and it is said that the Chinese can modify its tone variously by particular ways of striking the disk. Gongs may have been used on towers in place of place. The gong has been effectively 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 Fran�ois Joseph Gossec in the funeral march composed at the death of Honor� Mirabeau in 1791. Gaspare Spontini used it in ''La Vestale'' (1807), in the finale of Act II, an impressive scene in which the high pontiff pronounces the anathema on the faithless vestal. It 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 now used at Bayreuth in ''Parsifal'' to reinforce the bell instruments, although there is no indication given in the score. The tam-tam has been treated from its ethnographical side by Franz Heger. Gongs have been used in upper class households as waking devices. A man hitting a gong twice starts all Rank Organisation. This iconic figure is known as the gongman. Queen (band)'s classic song ''Bohemian Rhapsody'' ends on the sound of a gong. 1911 Britannica articles needing updates Orchestral percussion Gongs

Gong

__TOC__ The numbers add up to 99.98. What's the 0.02? Was one of the numbers misscanned? -User:PierreAbbat :Probably due to rounding. --User:Brion VIBBER ---- I am a Taiwanese and have never heard of the "Chinese" name of "gong-gong or tam-tam" that [http://28.1911encyclopedia.org/G/GO/GONG.htm 1911 Britannica] claims. It sounds like some obscure theatrical jargon or baby talk (Motherese). Have any Chinese heard of it? If not, I think "luo" and lo4 (Cantonese) will suffice, because ''that'' is how I have always heard it. --User:Menchi 23:00 16 Jul 2003 (UTC) :"tam-tam" is a pretty common term in European classical music for a large, unpitched gong (the usual one used in classical orchestras). According to the Concise Grove Dictionary of Music, "tamtam" is a Malay word, but most other dictionaries say it's Hindi. "Gong-gong" I don't know about. --User:Camembert :: Britannica says "(Chinese, Gong-gong or Tam-tam)". Since it's not Chinese like what EB says, it should be noted so (as an English variant, or even that Gong is just a sub-type of Tam-tam). Now, gong-gong? I just checked Merriam-Webster, and it says it's Malay & Javanese too. Stupid EB.... --User:Menchi 23:27 16 Jul 2003 (UTC) Fixed. --User:Menchi 23:32 16 Jul 2003 (UTC) ---- The article seems to be mainly about one particular type of gong, the chau gong or "bull's-eye" gong. Large chau gongs used in orchestras are called tam-tams. But there are also other traditional types such as wind gongs, tiger-voice gongs, bowl gongs, nipple gongs, and opera gongs, and modern types such as Paiste's World gongs and Planet gongs. So it's not nearly so simple as the article makes out! I'll write about these when I have time unless someone else wants to. Try http://www.larkinam.com/MenComNet/Business/Retail/Larknet/Gongs for some information. User:Andrewa 01:24 17 Jul 2003 (UTC) Done. Needs a refactor now, but the information is there. User:Andrewa 10:28 17 Jul 2003 (UTC) ==Cleanup tag== I have removed the cleanup tag, it seems inaccurate and pointless to me. The Wikipedian who posted it has given no reason, didn't list it on the ''cleanup'' page, and has asked for no comments to be posted on their User talk:GK, so it's not obvious how they expect us to find out what they don't like about the article. They have some User:GK on other aspects of Wikipedia as well, and have made [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:Contributions&target=GK many contributions] despite periodically saying they are leaving permanently. Anyway, my conclusion was that the tag was merely detracting from a good article for no reason. Comments welcome, preferably on user talk:andrewa. User:Andrewa 14:14, 18 Mar 2005 (UTC)

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Words begining with Gong:

Gong
Gong
Gongaga
Gongchandang
Gongdi
Gongfu
Gongfuzi
Gongfu_Cha
Gongga_Shan
Gongga_Shan
Gonghe
Gongju
Gongju
GONGKABOR
Gongkabor
Gongliao
Gongliao,_Taipei
Gongman
Gongmin
Gongmin_of_Goryeo
Gongmin_of_Goryeo
Gongo
Gongola_River
Gongoozle
Gongoozler
Gongora
Gongqia
Gongqing
Gongqing_china
Gongren_Ribao
Gongs
Gongs
Gongshan_Muntjac
Gongshan_muntjac
Gongshu
Gongshu_District
Gongsun
Gongsun_Du
Gongsun_Kang
Gongsun_Kang
Gongsun_Longzi
Gongsun_Longzi
Gongsun_Xu
Gongsun_Yuan
Gongsun_Zan
Gonguembo
Gongxia
Gongylomorphus
Gongylus
Gongyo
Gongzhuling
Gong_(band)
Gong_(disambiguation)
Gong_(title)
Gong_Baoren
Gong_Fu
Gong_fu
Gong_fu
Gong_Gong
Gong_Jin'ou
Gong_Jin'ou
Gong_Jinou
Gong_Li
Gong_Li
Gong_L�
Gong_Lum_v._Rice
Gong_mythology
Gong_Peak
Gong_Peak
Gong_Ruina
Gong_Ruxin
Gong_Shengliang
Gong_Shengliang
Gong_Show
Gong_Sun_Long_Zi
Gong_Sun_Long_Zi
Gong_Xian
Gong_Xi_Fa_Cai