Listen to the gong
Tip: press play to see the sound's live frequency spectrum in blue over the waveform.
How the gong makes its sound
In the Hornbostel–Sachs system, which classifies instruments by how they produce sound, the gong belongs to the struck idiophones: the body is struck directly – bells, gongs, xylophones and cymbals.
More broadly it is one of the idiophones, where the solid body of the instrument itself vibrates, without strings or a stretched membrane.
Players shape its sound through technique and materials; the resonating body filters the raw vibration, boosting some harmonics and damping others.
From Wikipedia
A gong is a percussion instrument originating from Southeast Asia, and used widely in Southeast Asian and East Asian musical traditions. Gongs are made of metal and are circular and flat or bowl-like in shape, and can come in various sizes. They are typically struck with a mallet. They can be played alone, giving a characteristic "crashing" sound, or played as part of a tuned set that produce bell-like sounds.
Other struck idiophones
More instruments from Indonesia
Questions people ask
Real questions from the Stack Exchange community – follow a link to read the discussion.
Frequently asked questions
What does a gong sound like?
Listen to 3 recordings on this page. As one of the struck idiophones, its sound comes from the way the body is struck directly.
What type of instrument is the gong?
It is classified as struck idiophones (Hornbostel–Sachs 111.241).
Where does the gong come from?
The gong originates from Indonesia.
Sources & credits
- Gong or bell vibrant by stephan – Public domain · Wikimedia Commons
- 240382 the-very-real-horst chinese-gong-finish-session-2014-06-10-29-143 by the_very_Real_Horst – CC0 1.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Gongy Gong (Antti Luode) by Antti Luode – CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
- Wikidata Q208320 – CC0
- Wikipedia: Gong – CC BY-SA 4.0
- Image by Ethan Doyle White – CC BY-SA 4.0