(Fr., Ger. and It.).
A percussion instrument of either definite or indefinite pitch, in the form of a circular metal plaque. The vibration is strongest near the vertex and weakest near the rim (the opposite is the case with a bell). Gongs, which are classified by Hornbostel and Sachs as idiophone percussion vessels (see Idiophone), are made in various sizes and shapes, being either flat, or with the edge turned over (sometimes called ‘kettle gong’ or ‘metal drum’), or with a turned-down rim and central boss, like the gongs of Java and Myanmar (see fig.1). The gong’s primary importance is in south-east Asia but three types are used in the Western orchestra. In the majority of cases gongs are cast and hammered, the formula of the metal (an alloy) varying from 70% to 80% copper and 30% to 20% tin, or a compound of copper and tin with the addition of lead, iron or zinc. In some special gongs a small portion of silver is added.
The instrument seen most frequently in the Western orchestra is the large flat gong with a shallow lip and of indefinite pitch. Instruments of this type were originally imported only from China and are universally known by the original name ‘tam-tam’. (It should be noted that composers frequently prescribe a gong when obviously a tam-tam is intended, the terms ‘gong’ and ‘tam-tam’ being synonymous in Western music.) Though the Chinese continue to produce fine orchestral tam-tams, there is now a marked employment of tam-tams and bossed gongs made in Europe by such firms as M. Paiste of Nottwil and Schacht-Audorf, and the Italian firm of Ufip (Unione-Fabbricanti Italiana Piatti Musicali e Tam-Tams).
In most Western orchestras a tam-tam of between 90 and 100 cm in diameter is used, suspended in a frame. Tam-tams as large as 150 cm are available, but they are impractical for general use and are only employed for special effect. Unlike the bossed gongs and those with a deep rim, which are invariably struck in the centre (from where the tone issues), the orchestral tam-tam may also be struck off centre (see fig.2). With rare exceptions a heavy beater with felt or wool covering is employed, the tremolo being produced in most cases by rapid strokes with a single beater, the sustaining quality of the instrument ‘filling in the gaps’.
For illustrations see Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines.
The origin of the gong is uncertain although the name ‘gong’ originated in Java (see also Bronze drum).
Gongs may have existed in the biblical era: St Paul’s ‘sounding brass or tinkling cymbal’ in the King James Bible is translated in the New English Bible (1 Corinthians xiii.1) ‘sounding gong or clanging cymbal’. The Romans used gongs and metal discs (discus), which were suspended from a central hole and used as signal instruments. Four bronze discs devised by Hipposos had the same diameters, but differed in thickness, and consequently produced notes of different pitch. A Roman gong discovered during mining operations in Wiltshire is thought to be from the 1st or 2nd century.
In China, the categorical term luo is used to identify gongs, preceded by a prefix to specify type, size or regional variant. Gongs were mentioned in Chinese literature from the early 9th century onwards by onomatopoeic names such as shaluo and zheng (zhengluo). The encyclopedia Tongdian (801 ce) reports that gongs were introduced into China from Central Asia (Xiyu) and in use by the early 6th century. Recently, however, an earlier gong (of unknown name) was found in a Han dynasty (206 bce – ce 220) tomb in Guangxi province. This instrument is about 32 cm in diameter with a large flat central striking area (c22 cm) and a narrow shoulder through which three suspension rings are attached. The relationship between these gongs and ‘bronze drums’ (Chinese: tonggu) is not known. ‘Bronze drums’ are indeed gong types of south-east Asian minority peoples, dating (in China at least) from about the 6th century bce, or possibly earlier (see Bronze drum).
Chinese gongs in use today are of several basic types. Small basin-shaped gongs, with flat faces and narrow shoulders turned back at 90 degrees or less are either suspended in individual frames (tied with cords through holes in their shoulders or through rims extending out from these) or are hand held and struck with small unpadded beaters. Basin-shaped gongs known by names such as zheng, tongzheng and tongluo were cited and pictured in the treatise Yueshu (c1100). The related Japanese shoko (Chinese: zhenggu) used in gagaku appears to be a survival from this period. In north China, basin-shaped gongs known as dangdang (c15 cm in diameter, mounted in small ‘L’-shaped frames) were pictured in 16th-century imperial processions and are still employed in the villages of Hebei province. A more important instrument of this same type is the Yunluo (‘cloud gong’), a set of ten or more diatonically-tuned small gongs suspended together in a portable frame. Southern variants known as jiaoluo (‘call gong’, c9 cm in diameter and hand held by a cord) and xiangzhan (‘resonating cup’, c6 cm in diameter, which rests in a basket) are employed in the chamber music of southern Fujian province and Taiwan.
Large knobbed gongs with raised central knob (or boss) and broad turned-back shoulders (c25–45 cm in diameter) are suspended by two cords in standing frames (similar to Javanese kempul), hung from poles (when used in funeral processions) or hand held and struck with padded beaters. Most commonly found in south-central China (especially among minority peoples) and in coastal south-eastern China and Taiwan (among Chaozhou people in particular), knobbed gongs bear local onomatopoeic names such as gongluo, mangluo and others. Possibly related to or derived from the ancient ‘bronze drum’, knobbed gongs have been pictured in Chinese art from the 16th century onwards.
Changing-pitch gongs (where the pitch changes after striking) are used in Beijing opera and in other northern and eastern opera genres. These have convex surfaces and a flattened central area for striking, with narrow shoulders. The daluo (‘large gong’, c30 cm in diameter) is hand held by a cord and struck with a padded beater; its pitch descends. The xiaoluo (‘small gong’ of c22 cm in diameter) is held by the fingertips (under the shoulder of the instrument) and struck with an unpadded beater; its pitch ascends. Gongs of this type were in use in Kunqu opera by about the 16th or 17th centuries. Other regional names for similar gongs include suluo, jingluo and shouluo.
The large gongs used in southern opera genres are basin-shaped or dish-shaped, with shoulders of varying widths. Variants include the Chaozhou shenbo (literally ‘deep slope’, c60–80 cm in diameter) and smaller douluo (‘container gong’), both with flat striking surfaces, wide shoulders and suspended in standing frames. Related to the douluo is an instrument known in 18th-century sources as jin (‘metal’), a military gong suspended by cords from a handle and struck with a padded beater (akin to the Korean ching). Another southern gong type is the Cantonese wenluo (‘civil gong’, also known as daluo, chaoluo etc.), which is a very large gong that comes in differing sizes, with slightly convex surface and narrow shoulders, suspended in a standing frame (similar to the Western tam-tam).
The earliest use of the gong in Western orchestral music is attributed to Gossec in his Funeral Music for Mirabeau (1791; see fig.3). Subsequent composers include: Steibelt (Romeo and Juliet, 1793); Le Sueur (Ossian ou Les bardes, 1804); Spontini (La vestale, 1807); Bellini (Norma, 1831); and Meyerbeer (Robert le diable, 1831). Outstanding examples of the use of the large gong (tam-tam) include the solemn stroke in Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony and the impressive stroke to signify the death of Gerontius (The Dream of Gerontius, Elgar). In The Planets (Mars) Holst prescribed a tremolo throughout 39 bars concluding with a fff stroke. Solemn strokes on a descending series of tam-tams are used with great effect in Messiaen’s Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum (1964). Two tam-tams (acuto, basso) are required in Stravinsky’s Introitus (1965), a player to each. For The Rite of Spring (‘The Sacrifice’) Stravinsky requested a rapid glissando, to be played on the surface of the tam-tam with a triangle beater. Strauss wrote for a tremolo on four tam-tams (auf dem Theater) in Die Frau ohne Schatten (1919). Puccini scored for a series of 11 tuned gongs (tam-tam giappa) in Madama Butterfly, and a series of Chinese gongs in Turandot. Cage's First Construction (in Metal) (1939) includes 12 graduated button gongs, four gongs resting on pads, a water gong and a tam-tam; Birtwistle's Triumph of Time (1971–2) requires nine tam-tams. Chromatic gongs are now readily available, for example Thai gongs with a compass of four octaves (C–c'''). Paiste produces a series of tuned gongs covering a compass of four and a half octaves (C–f'''). One drawback with this type of gong is that in manufacture they are hammered into the correct pitch, and continued fortissimo playing is likely to affect the intonation. Indonesian and Balinese gongs are also used. The Italian firm Ufip manufactures cast gongs, which cannot be knocked out of pitch.
Among the more unusual treatments of the orchestral tam-tam are the following: being kept in vibration by friction on the edge (The Pleasure Dome of Kubla Khan (1917), Griffes); vibrated with a bow (Dimensions of Time and Silence (1960), Penderecki); laid horizontally, without resonance (El retablo de Maese Pedro (1922), Falla). In Double Music (1941) by John Cage and Lou Harrison, a water gong is specified, to be lowered and raised in a tub of water after striking. (A vibrating gong flattens in pitch when lowered into water, as does a bell.) In Boulez's Rituel: in memoriam Bruno Maderna (1974–5) one percussionist has seven graduated gongs (1–7) and another seven graduated tam-tams (7–1); these two players significantly control the pace of the work. A genuine Chinese tam-tam was used to record the superimposed strokes heard on the J. Arthur Rank film trademark. The Chinese opera gong, usually about 25 cm in diameter, produces a very different type of sound: a sharp, high ‘splash’ of sound with a rapid glissando (which may be upward or downward depending on the gong).
The gong and the tam-tam are notated on a space in the staff or on a single line. Tuned gongs are notated in either the treble or the bass clef.
See also Gong-chime.
BladesPI; MGG1 (J. Kunst)
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Han Kuo-Huang: ‘The Construction and use of the Knobbed Gong in Taiwan’, Balungan, (1988), 11–14
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JAMES BLADES/JAMES HOLLAND (1, 4), JAMES BLADES/R (2), ALAN R. THRASHER (3)