When people think of Chinese gongs and drums, most people think of coping gongs (opening gongs, deacon's gongs). The copy gongs are handmade with a black center and black edges. The center point and edges retain their natural coating, while the rest of the gong is lathed and polished to reveal a bronze color. A perfect balance of durability and tone, the special craftsmanship and process creates a tone different from the traditional Teochew gongs and enriches the sound of the gongs with deep tones and long sustain.
In modern symphony orchestras, the copy gong has become a very important percussion instrument due to its extreme versatility. The essence of the Zhou Gong is to provide explosive crescendos and long sustain, and this gong is no exception. With slightly varied playing techniques, you can also achieve short, fast damped tones and produce a variety of different experimental sounds.
Included is the adjustable gong stand, which is a sturdy steel construction that can withstand the weight of even the heaviest gongs, but is also easy to move, adjust and remove thanks to its lockable wheels, lightweight frame and wing nuts.
When you hit the gong hard, it sounds like a rumble, and when tapped gently, it emits a buzzing overtone.
Our gongs range from 14 inches to 40 inches. The smaller the gong, the clearer the tone.
Our gongs have a great sound and are suitable for musical performances, gong therapy and meditation exercises.
A story is told. When you gently strike a Tide Gong, it produces a deep bass fundamental that reverberates vibrations back at you. You can sink your attention into this fundamental tone. As you continue to strike the Chao Gong, the fundamental tone will get louder and higher pitches will begin to emerge. As you continue to strike the gong, more different levels of higher tones will be exposed at increasing volumes, along with different double tones. If you hit the gong hard enough, a “crash” will occur, at which point the higher tones will take over and the gong will reverberate wildly with these higher tones. Many gongs, such as Tibetan gongs, will produce more or less one fundamental tone. Some gongs, such as wind gongs, will collapse rapidly. In Teochew gongs, there is a lot of variety, from basic tones to crashing tones, so there is a lot of potential for how you can play it and give effects.
At this size, the Teochew gong is a low-pitched instrument and too heavy to hold in your hand. The vibrations of a gong of this size will be felt in your body in big waves. There will be an abundance of space between the basic notes and the full gong sound, so as you continue to strike the gong, there will be many layers of diatonic and chordal sounds that will emerge.
Tips on how to choose a gong: To choose a gong, consider the following characteristics, weight and sound quality.
Weight: Do you need to carry this gong, or transport it? Generally speaking, gongs under 26 inches are easier to hold in your hand and play as you hold them. This allows you to walk around the room with the gong. For example, in a sound bath, you can strike the gong around people so they can feel the vibrations. It is difficult to do this with gongs over 24 inches because they are quite heavy.
QUALITY OF SOUND: The most important quality of a gong is whether you like the sound of it. Listen to the sound file and explore how the gong moves you. Your relationship with the sound will be the most important factor in how you work with it. It doesn't need to be the most expensive gong for you to connect with its vibrations and use it to get into a coherent state of health. It can be an inexpensive copy or wind gong or a high priced gong type, they all work. Take some time to consider the sound files and find the right size and style for you.
Generally speaking, as you get bigger, you will get more space between the bass and percussive sounds of the gong. In a small gong, you can hit it, get a bass sound, and then hit it again and it will crash easily. In a large gong, you hit it once to get a bass, and then can hit it again and again and again, finding more and more sound until you finally reach the point of collapse. There will be “more to explore” in terms of the various vibrations coming from the gong, and more complexity in terms of double tones. As you get bigger, you'll also get longer durations. For example, a 32-inch or larger gong can sustain its fundamental for a long time, so you can get “lost” in the tone more, compared to an 18-inch gong that has little sustain.
Another factor to consider is how well the gong harmonizes with the sound of the other instruments you'll be playing. There is a nice benefit to tuning a gong, such as a planetary gong or a Flower of Life gong, in that you can know the frequency values of the gong, and you can buy a gong that you know will work with your instrument. If you need help in this area, we can definitely support you! Just give us a call!
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