Working with Gongs #1: Gongs & Mallets

A look at different types of mallets & implements that can be used on a Gong for rock, classical, avant-garde musics, or for personal meditation.

[@Sockfullapoo]

I have never wanted to know anything about gongs, but here I am.

[@Gongtopia]

And so you are…

[@eongxien]

Sock fullapoo I’m guessing KZbin recommendation brought us here.

[@Sockfullapoo]

@@Gongtopia I'm glad I ended up here! Very interesting video!

[@whiskyweasal89]

Sock fullapoo lol. I was thinking “man you mean someone was interested enough in the gong to spend years mastering it?” What if film director sought this guy out from far and wide because he is the gong guru and paid him thousands of bucks for his time?

[@whiskyweasal89]

eongxien yeah, this must have been recommended because I watched to many drumming videos.

[@WORLDDRUMCLUB]

Nice video - Thank you for helping support our global community of drummers and percussionists.

[@brainwashingdetergent4322]

When I here the sound coming from the gong, I imagine the gong’s face as a body of water, and the strike of the mallet is like a stone being thrown into the water, with the sound coming from the peaks and valleys of the waves interacting with each other.

[@68PieceDrumKit]

Wealth of knowledge and so generous to share with everybody! You are the best Michael! Marty F.

[@soyoonakim]

I am a composer, and watching this to learn about Gong. Thank you very much! It is really helpful!!

[@Gongtopia]

I'm very glad you found this video helpful. Thanks!

[@darrinpennington]

Pretty amazing you can get all of those different sounds just by using different playing tools

[@lauraroberts2250]

Loved how you used knitting needles! Brought back memories of my first drumming experience as a toddler with pan kids and knitting needles!

[@grantholland421]

Exciting!

[@tombiby5892]

"It's hard to excite the whole face of the gong...with a tiny mallet."

[@Kohntarkosz]

Thanks for using the tubz! I saw Wertico credited with using those on The Sign Of Four, the album he did with Pat Metheny, Derek Bailey, and Gregg Bendian. I've been wondering for the last 15 years what those were.

[@lancethrustworthy]

Cool! Good demonstration! I've always wondered how 'Paiste' was pronounced.

[@tsitracommunications2884]

Rhymes with fiesty

[@SallyJoViolin]

This is really helpful information, thank you!

[@Gongtopia]

You’re welcome! I’m glad you found something helpful.

[@stephenanthonythomas3533]

I loved the Pro Mark Tubz! Wish they still made those. Great video, learned a lot.🙏💯

[@Gongtopia]

The closest thing I've found are the long plastic tubes that fit into a golf bag so you can separate your clubs. They are a bit thinner, but you can cut the tube in half and cut off the folded over end.

[@jaysen2200]

What a fucking gong show !

[@elsaanndo7720]

Great video. You are very creative and talented. Thank you. Please have more video.

[@Gongtopia]

I try to have a new video every week. Thanks for your comment.

[@mikemonkeyz]

Damn... The stuff i watch at 2am... thanks recommended :P

[@marendenison3550]

I didn’t know there were so many subtleties to gongs. I thought you just whacked it with a big mallet and that was it.

[@aaronmayhew6106]

Me neither. i was supposed learn about gongs today I guess. lol

[@harryschaefer8563]

Thanks for the master class. I learned a lot from you. Does anyone make a "sizzle gong" like a sizzle cymbol with rivets placed around the perimeter resulting in a long sustain?

[@Gongtopia]

I don't know of any commercial 'sizzle' Gongs, but I have added rivets to one of my Gongs to get that sort of effect. I've also hung different types of metal chains across them to create a 'sizzling' sound.

[@omarcortes1459]

Sound halo!

[@MolnarPohdap]

Wow, this video has been a vast store of information, many thanks! Question: years ago at my undergrad school we performed George Crumb’s Ancient Voices of Children. At the climax of the final movement, it calls for the gong to be hit with a chimes mallet - and the dynamic is at least fff. Our percussionists were so alarmed by the sound, that they could hardly bring themselves to use that mallet! Your raising the issue of possibly damaging the gong with too hard a stroke with too hard a mallet makes me wonder: what would the the safest hard mallet to use on the gong for that moment in that piece?

[@Gongtopia]

That's a good question. While using a chime mallet may have obtained the sound Crumb wanted, I doubt he took into consideration the effect it would physically have on the Gong. As for what else to use, a lot depends on the type and size of Gong used. Hitting a Paiste Gong with a chime mallet at fff may dent it, while hitting a Chinese Chau Gong may crack it. The one good thing is that it’s for a small ensemble, so fff would not have to be that loud to project over the ensemble. I would probably use a hard yarn Gong mallet on a 24”-32” Gong, and try not to completely lay into the Gong when striking it.

[@aaronmayhew6106]

I had no idea gongs were so complex. no wonder Danny Carrey from Tool has a huge gong i should've known. lol

[@dannnnny86]

test your might

[@whiskyweasal89]

I’d like to see how low you can get frequencies on that gong. What would happen if you hit it with something the size of a beach ball but a little bit harder?

[@Gongtopia]

Whisky Weasal - Something that big would over power a gong that size. Besides, it’s more how you play it that determines the sound/note/frequency…

[@keithdavis4626]

Bang a gong get it on

[@Gongtopia]

Actually, Paul Wertico 'invented' the TUBZ - he's a creative guy. Thanks for the comment! - MB

[@VideoNOLA]

How is music for concert gong notated on the staff? Does it include instructions for which type of mallet to use and/or where and how hard to strike?

[@Fishermhm]

Typically, yes, the composer will have instructions on which mallet is best for use. But, if it doesnt, It's up to the sensitivity of the percussionist to decide what mallet and stroke best fits the music.

[@Gongtopia]

Yes to all the above. It is often notated on the standard 5-line staff. Details beyond that are at the composer's discretion. Some composers offer very detailed notes as to mallets and where/how to strike the Gong. Contemporary percussion music can get quite detailed at times. Yet there is much music where only the actual notes are indicated, with everything else being left up to the performer.

[@SamChaneyProductions]

This is useful information, but for a video that's all about tones it's a shame that it was recorded with such poor audio quality.

[@Gongtopia]

Sam Chaney - Well, this was recorded 8 or 9 years ago with a very basic setup (direct to a camcorder/tape - no external mics), so it was pretty good for its time. I wish it was better too, but I did the best I could at the time. Take what info works for you from it…

[@mrMacMilli2000]

@@Gongtopia info is on point

[@hommerecorder7003]

great sice paiste gong. 32

[@airbrushingbynick6071]

Gong with the Wind.

[@airbrushingbynick6071]

Thanks from King GonG !

[@dmomcilovic9185]

Toilet brush?

[@alexse7266]

Агни-хотры?)

[@kirieley]

:)

[@mientaytoanbui8724]

Ok

[@danesz021]

500th like and 50th comment

[@mikegeorges7935]

JESUS CARES FOR YOU!!!

[@matthewsaxman1028]

Isn't this a tam tam?

[@Gongtopia]

'Tam tam' is a term mainly used in Western orchestral music, similar to how a 'violin' is called a 'fiddle' in country music. I prefer to refer to my instruments as 'gongs' because I don't play in the symphony.

[@MM-vs2et]

Sounds like God calling me. Why am I here again?

[@cosmicsprings8690]

Martin Anthonio16 lol 😂 because you have been a very naughty boy...✨✨😲🤔😂😂😂✨✨

[@62chanel76]

gong comes from Indonesia

[@fartwrangler]

That isn't a gong, it's a tam-tam.

[@Gongtopia]

Tam-Tam is an orchestral term. I don't play in an orchestra. Besides, the Chinese don't call them tam-tams…

[@Gongtopia]

Actually, 'tam tam' is a term that was created when 'Gongs' were 1st used in symphonic music back in the 1800s to differentiate a flat faced Gong from a Gong with a raised center 'boss.' (There is no definitive answer as to where the term originated - same say it's Chinese, some say it's Hindi, still others say it's something else…) When a score calls for a 'tam tam' (like Messiaen’s 'Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum'),then a flat faced Gong, like a Chinese Chau, is used.