Percussion Deconstruction™

Further YouTube adventures. This time looking at different Gong types: ~ MB

In case you haven't seen this on my Facebook page, I've just released the 1st in a series of Gong instructional videos. The 1st topic is Mallets & Striking Impliments . So check it out. Coming next week is a look at different Gong types and sounds. Cheers ~ MB

I’m always intrigued when I read about someone asking the question, “Can I put a hole in a Wind Gong and use it as a flat ride cymbal?” While at first glance this would seem to be a very good idea, the answer isn’t as simple as just yes, or no. There seems to be a common misconception that because cymbals and Gongs are both made of metal, are both round, and are both percussion instruments, that they are really the same thing, just mounted differently. But the similarities end at both being metal and round. Let’s take a look at each instrument, both how they are made, and how they react when struck. Design & Shape While music books will classify a Gong as an idiophone , a Gong is essentially a membranophone : "any musical instrument, as a drum, in which the sound is produced by striking, rubbing, or blowing against a membrane  stretched over a frame." The face of a Gong is a vibrating membrane that is hammered—which is much like stretching a skin over a frame—which puts