GONG

Gong and mallet. Click on the audio icon beneath the art to hear the sound of a gong being 1/4 a circular metal plate-like percussion instrument having a turned-down rim. It is struck in the centre with a felt- or leather-covered beater, producing a sound of either definite or indefinite pitch. Its vibrations issue from the centre, in contrast to bells, which vibrate principally at the rim. Gongs may have shallow or deep rims (kettle gongs) and may be bossed (knobbed in the centre) or unbossed. Rimless gongs occur occasionally. Gongs are pictured in China in the 6th century AD as instruments of barbarian origin and were used in Java by the 9th century. Both Middle Eastern and Southeast Asian origins have been proposed, and a deep-rimmed Roman gong from the 1st or 2nd century AD was excavated in Wiltshire, England. Flat gongs are found from India to Japan; bossed gongs occur between Myanmar (Burma) and Indonesia, inclusively. The word gong is Javanese. Gongs function as accompaniment to dance, theatre, and song and are used to transmit messages. Frequently, they are considered to have magical or protective qualities. In China they symbolize prosperity and mark social status. They are the leading instruments of the gamelan orchestras of Indonesia, where they are used both singly and as gong chimes (Javanese bonang)-sets of tuned, deep-rimmed, bossed gongs suspended on ropes in a wooden frame and producing bell-like tones. The Western orchestra uses the flat Chinese gong of indefinite pitch (called tam-tam in the West) and, occasionally, deep-rimmed gong chimes. Acoustically, the steel drums of Trinidad are multiple-toned gongs. "Slit gong" is a name sometimes used for the slit drum.