Encounter with gongs - an expansive experience: Karen Stackpole at TEDxExpressionCollege

Karen Stackpole is an audio engineer, educator, writer, and drummer/percussionist who specializes in gongs. Since 1991, she has incorporated gongs into her life and music and has cultivated some distinctive techniques for drawing harmonics out of tam tams with various implements. She specializes in dynamic soundscapes and textures and is active in the experimental music scene, and also contributes gong sounds to more conventional musical genres including source material for film soundtracks. Over the years she has delved deeply into the vibrational healing powers of gongs, which are tremendous vehicles of transcendence and alignment. Her latest endeavor, Machine Shop: Live Amplified Gong Experience, is a duo with audio engineer Drew Webster that brings the intensity of gongs to a new level. This performance piece uses amplification and subtle processing to enhance the natural and complex harmonics of these amazing instruments while effectively translating the full vibrations into larger spaces.

[@ragereaver8576]

The level of skill Karen has to get those gongs to produce the range and variety of sounds is astounding.

[@letsallbe-friends1120]

Sometimes the best Ted talks have no actual talking! 😶👌

[@Nobles-vritesDWeber]

A deep encounter with gongs and sound discovery. Very beautiful

[@drlo728]

one of the best sounding GongTube vids I have seen ever!!! Very good sound quality/recording!!!!

[@fredroger1544]

This explains ,KZbin videos of strange sounds like trumpets all around the world , and this was beautiful

[@romeomatthew]

Fred Roger it sounds very similar with that strange sounds

[@jackiehornsey7306]

I thought the same thing, I suppose the earth could do this it is full of metals.

[@yves-noel-mariegonnet1043]

Magnifique! Bravo! Bravo! Bravo! Encore! Encore! Encore! Un grand Merci!

[@elisangelamorais3159]

Fantastic!!!

[@OllihessTHEMALLETMAN]

Beautifully played !!!

[@udomatthiasdrums5322]

still love it!!

[@elmisalchichon]

Love it!!!

[@viralmonkeymarket101]

Awesome vibes of emergence.

[@sharmasvegdelicacies1932]

Wow wow this really had a very soothing effect on my soul and was in deep Meditative state. Grateful and Blessings

[@bigdon37]

Wow that great mastery ! Very creative and it goes beyond the usual with all that sound engineering .

[@bobbyohanesian4228]

I Love It! Karen is Amazing, Gongs are beautiful but Expensive! I want one or two someday!

[@JohnLRice]

Super awesome! :-)

[@Tetra941]

I wish I could see behind her at 18:40. Dying to know how the wob-wob effect works! So cool!!

[@mindeye]

❤

[@1733butterfly]

Wow, that's amazing

[@antoniotorrez1030]

this match up let's me really hear the fluctuations in the frequency.

[@thebush6077]

Sounds like what I would expect the upside down to sound like.

[@GagansidhuBholath]

Really good 👍 👌... relaxing

[@2nazgul]

I want those bottles of beer these giant caps are from

[@rafaelavaladez7883]

Other worldly, And fascinating

[@NinaKardecOfficiel02]

Magnifique.

[@jasonswanson5770]

0:26 "hey, im karen and im addicted to gongs" 🙋🏿‍♂️🙋‍♀️🙋🏼‍♂️🙋🏻‍♀️🙋🏾‍♀️🙋🏿‍♂️ HI KAREN.

[@mkndmny]

💗💗💗

[@oi8542]

Hi Karen , such a vast range of sounds you offered to us ! It’s story telling experience, that grows and explores . May I ask what gong did you use in your hands please ? Thanks a lot

[@titwo]

Fantastic travel ! Don't remember wich IS analogic and numeric... Thanks à lot and cheers from Marseille, France

[@amorahsaranorton7905]

AAAAAAMMMMAAAZZZIINGGG

[@captainluminous4453]

Love this. What kind of friction mallet are you using in the beginning?

[@borbetomagus]

It's most likely a rubber mallet. Freer Percussion make five varieties:extra soft, soft, medium, medium hard and hard rubber. Short example with cymbal (also search out waterphone and Mega Marvin) -- /watch?v=45hR9iarWXk The size of the ball will also affect the sound -- /watch?v=bO2Hx-tu67U

[@Kolaczki]

Relaxing, i felt like Im being massage!

[@fritzf1372]

what microphones do you find work best to capture the sound of the gongs and any other equipment needed to transfer to the crowd seamlessly

[@SketchyTigers]

Considering we dont see any microphone stands I'm assuming they used multiple contact microphones on each gong

[@bergerdrum]

I can't imagine any kind of contact mic on any of those gongs. Anything stuck to a gong would mute it and badly mess with its ability to vibrate. Typically gongs are miked from behind so it's no surprise that you can't see the majority of them. And to capture sound over a spread of equipment this wide, some omnidirectional mics could be used in out-of-sight placements. However, when she had the handheld gong and quickly rotates it for the Doppler effect, starting at 11:00 you can see a Shure SM57.

[@wildeyestudios5]

7.40 totally reminds me of half life 2

[@alejandropezoahuerta9657]

Como seria un efecto de película escalofriante 😂 que horror, muy lindo muy lindo saludos desde chile

[@markdemell8056]

I thought I fell asleep and was transformed into the ZONE !

[@hyperbrightstudios]

What size gongs are those two paiste gongs? I'm guessing at 32" and 40"

[@nigeljames6017]

Not meaning to be negative, but I wonder if there is any frequency manipulation going on by her friend on the electronics ? If it’s straight amplification then that’s quite good !

[@udomatthiasdrums5322]

yeah - like 10 years or so

[@sixty2jeff]

She really gets it on when she bangs her gong.....right on !

[@tula__]

Why this video has so low views 😶

[@jayemeljay2117]

I read... An expensive experience... Might as well be.. to buy all those gongs

[@carlshneebly7136]

Im pretty sure that was the beginning of a Pink Floyd song.

[@mcharrison23]

Hippy Dippy.

[@counterflow5719]

Terrible camera and lighting. I cant see what the heck she's doing.

[@yeet7545]

Need the tabs?

[@SuperPussyFinger]

Shitcan the electronic reverb. Acoustic percussion speaks for itself.

[@vvvictoriav5958]

but they obviously wanted to create something different that fused the two. go watch an acoustic percussion video if thats what you want

[@debeerpaul]

Guys its a Gong not a Dong!

[@aybee63]

The aliens used 200" Gongs to levitate the 2,300,000 limestone and granite blocks they used to build the great pyramid of Khufu!

[@RobertSlover]

no.

[@davidslentz6241]

Interesting thought

[@landofthefree1804]

MORTAL KOMBAT!!!!!!!!!!!

[@thesparewheel]

not really a tune you could dance too

[@jonnie350zje]

I dunno... add some drums & bass and away you go. 😎

[@user-qz5qp3ul1x]

1:57開始

[@michaelmorgan6674]

this would trip you out on acid big time.

[@bnv2416]

Imagine being so in-touch with the Universe that you don’t need to ingest any chemicals to “trip out”

[@michaelmorgan6674]

@@bnv2416 it does trip me out sober acid would just enhance it man. Not one of those guys who lives and breathes drugs, I can just appreciate them, clearly you have never done it.

[@omegapointsingularity6504]

when I was a kid, I went in to some Yantra Mandala like DMT space by banging a gong, when I came back I had changed universe and the gong never existed.

[@michaelmorgan6674]

@@omegapointsingularity6504 hahaha

[@VJFranzK]

I think I'm getting some feedback... OR a n o t h e r u n i v e r s e

[@Dilworthy]

was lovely until the advert made me jump out of my skin, scared to press play again but thanks for the first 7 minutes

[@joerivs80]

I think I speak for everyone when I say there nothing like a woman playing th a night dong in front of an audience while making amazing sounds for all to enjoy. It’s surreal

[@NativeEarthlingAI]

Daddy has money

[@andrearyanta6445]

Javanese gamelan gong is better.

[@BreinGames]

Whole lotta pots and pans for this woman not to be in the kitchen cookin

[@1park813]

True, not a single hot meal was prepared and therefore dinner is not ready. Karen is to blame

[@robertowd5635]

I’m going to go ahead and say it’s on that dude playing the mixer to tell her this is terrible. C’mon man. You’re only delaying the inevitable.