Most people will immediately know what a gong is, or at least have some image of a big, round metal thing that gets hit with a beater when dinner's ready or someone apparently important is about to enter the room. Maybe you've seen them as part of the percussion section of an orchestra or maybe you've even had the pleasure of actually playing one. Originating in Asia, gongs come in any conceivable size and are usually a circular, curved plate with a curled edge and are tuned to various notes and most gongs that come from China will have a raised bell in the centre. Gongs are often confused with the chau tamtam which, while it looks like a gong and has the same technical features, has entirely different characteristics. Gongs will always be tuned to a specific note and deliver a clear, explosive sound. Tamtams are often much larger have a more complex, deeper and lower sound. The dynamic range of a tamtam is also larger and is capable of producing a kind of rotating, deep rumble as well as an explosive sound with a greater volume than that of a gong. The important difference between a gong and a tamtam is that tamtams are not tuned to specific notes and usually don't have a curled edge and, if the edge is curled, it's only by a couple of centimetres. If you have seen a gong played in a symphony orchestra, it's probably a tamtam. A wide range of different gongs are used as part of sound therapy sessions and in this category, you'll find a number of gongs available for this as well as wind gongs, feng, lion or tiger gongs, chau tamtams and opera gongs. If you're looking for a large gong, then you'll also need a stand since these usually don't come included as standard. To add a fun little bit of trivia: if you have a ship longer than 100 metres, alongside the ship's bell, you're obliged to carry a gong on board - an international rule for avoiding collisions.
