Percusize Me!: Gong

Friday, 19 January 2018

"Do It Yourself" tamt-tam/gong.

Not very happy about it (I DO HATE shopping malls), four days ago I went to IKEA to buy some stuff for my daughters´ bedroom. Fortunately, and because it was Tuesday morning, it was not too busy.

Believe or not, there are many things there a percussionist could make good use of, and today I´m going to write about one of them: the STOCKHOLM 2017 tray, article number 103.452.47, which you can find HERE. It´s made of stainlees steel, it´s 40cm in diametre (15.5") and features the same flange tam-tams have (4cm). Taking into account that artisans like Lance Campeau, Matt Nolan, Dave Collingwood, Greg Keplinger..., have (or have had) stainless steel instruments in their catalogs, it was not too crazy thinking this tray could end up as a musical instrument... Also, because it was 15€, it wouldn´t hurt my pocket much should the experiment failed.

Here´s the tray fresh from IKEA:

I need to hang it in order to play it, so the first and only thing I did was drilling the flange so I could pass a rope through the holes. Taking into account the orientation of the logo (if we are going to do it, let´s do it right... 😊), I draw a line from its centre to the edge. From that line, I moved 7cm to each side (totally random, it was the measure I felt was OK), and then marked the centre of the flange with a felt pen.

I marked those two points with a single blow of a nail so as to make way for the bit (use a bit for metal and not the first one you get your hands on... 😉) and to prevent it from sliding while drilling. I started with a size 1 bit, progressing up to size 9 (the one allowing the rope to comfortably pass through).

I did so with both points on the flange. When done, I used this tool to get rid of imperfections and shavings.

In order to avoid the rope being damaged by the rough inner surface, I wrapped the size 9 bit with grade 500 sand paper and worked the inside of both holes untill they were smooth like a baby bum.

I passed a cotton rope through them...

... and the tray became a tam-tam.

And yes, same we go around with Paiste, Zildjian, Sabian..., logos, I´ll go around with an IKEA one right in the centre of my instrument 😆.

How does it sound? Pretty well... Here you have a video (recorded using an iPhone). Headphones or good quality speakers are recommended. I have played dead centre, very close to the flange and half way between both so you can check the different sounds it can produce (very much noticeable live), Surprisingly enough, you can sometimes here the glissandi opera gongs are capable of.

What can I say? For 15€ and a couple of holes, the result is spectacular. If you give it a try (no pun intended), maybe the article "Do It Yourself gong beater" is a good start to make your own beaters.

If you feel adventurous, I´ll be happy to see and hear what you come up with.

…et in Arcadia ego.

Monday, 30 January 2017

Do It Yourself gong beater.

Last week, the Asturias Symphony Orchestra played Jesús Torres´ "Concerto for Violin and Orchestra. The part I was assigned included two gongs (Eb and Bb) played with hard mallets.

This kind of beater is not usual when playing gongs, so I had to use my imagination so as to get the proper mallet and character. Apart from a couple of them I forgot to photograph, these were the "tools" I took to rehearsals.

The one on the left is the one I normally use when playing gongs (and I also used it on this program in a piano, sombre passage together with the other percussionists). The centre one is used for striking opera gongs, but was discarded because it could not produce enough volume. The one on the right is the one I want to talk to you about...

It´s made with a skate wheel I bought at Decathlon:

The handle is made of beech, and I got it as a 1m dowel at Leroy Merlin. It was cut to measure, the tip was sanded so as to fit the hole in the wheel and the butt was rounded for a more confortable grip.

Then, it was just a matter of introducing it through the hole in the wheel:

There you go: a mallet that perfectly fits the purpose.

The following video (telephone quality, don´t be very picky...) shows the difference between the regular mallet and the one I built. You can hear a noticeable difference, which makes this beater fit perfectly in the context, where forte 16ths spread between all four percussionists for the duration of a crotchet are played.

This is the set I used (two gongs -Eb and Bb-, 22" Chinese cymbal and 5 octaves marimba).

The following photo, courtesy of Marta Barbón and the Asturias Symphony, shows Rafael Casanova and I during one of the concerts. You can clearly see the mallet.

The concert was, as usual, recorded by the Spanish National Radio. If you stay tuned, you´ll be able to hear it in a few weeks.

…et in Arcadia ego.

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Percusize Me! en español.

Friday, 19 January 2018

"Do It Yourself" tamt-tam/gong.

Monday, 30 January 2017

Do It Yourself gong beater.