Practical Matters: Regular Maintenance

It's been a busy summer here (hence the lack of posting) and I've found myself thinking of various things while gigging. Here's a list of quick maintenance tips:
  1. Whenever you set up your Gongs, check the Gong cord for fraying and make sure the knot is still tight. There's nothing worse than having a Gong fall off your rack! I always have some spare cord in one of my cases in case I need to make a quick replacement.
  2. Also check your Gongs/Bowls/Bells for wear. Nothing is indestructible. It's possible to crack or dent/bend your instruments, especially during travel. Regularly check each instrument out to make sure it's fine. Cracks can ruin a good instrument, but if caught early, they can often be drilled & filed to keep them from spreading, keeping your Gong usable for months/years to come. Note: never pack your Gongs and stands together! You are just asking for trouble. Always keep Gongs and stands in separate bags and/or cases.
  3. Check your mallets. It's the same thing here. Make sure the mallet head is on tight, and also check for fraying and damage to the handles. Next to having a Gong fall, having a mallet head fly off and land who knows where is never a good situation. If you have yarn/cord wrapped mallets, check for fraying and repair/replace. The same with fur padded mallets. The fur can become matted, worn, or just old. Vic Firth has various recovering kits available, which I've used before; or you can cut and sew your own covers if you are handy.
  4. Check, and double check, your stands after setting them up to make sure the fittings are tight. This will help keep the stand from rattling, and keep it from falling or coming apart while you play. Before adding the instruments, I always go around hitting the stands with the back of my fist, listening for squeaks and rattles.
  5. Also check your stands for burrs, sharp edges, or chrome pieces flaking off. I once got a nasty cut on my index finger before a gig when I reached into my stand case and grabbed the end of a stand tube. A flaking piece of chrome sliced right into my finger (Ouch!). Not fun.
  6. Don't forget to check your bags and cases for wear. I've had handles come off of cases and need repair/replacing before. You would hate to be carrying a case and have the handle break or come off. The same thing with bags. Make sure the handles are still sewn on completely and that the seems are sewn tight. I've taken a needle and thread to a few cases that had splitting seams. Make sure to check the bottoms of your Gong bags, as these can get worn over time. The edges of Gongs/cymbals can cut through various bags. Many bags have extra padding on the bottom to both cushion, and to help keep the case from wearing through. You can add more padding with high density foam, or even heavy cardboard cut to fit.
It's important to think of all your instruments, mallets, stands, and cases as investments. Taken care of, they can last a lifetime!

~ MB

Chop Wood / Carry Water / Play Gongs™





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

528Hz, 432Hz, and Other Fallacies

Image
OK people, it's time to get real and actually do some reading and research, instead of just passing around articles that are so blatantly false! The latest one to come across my desk from Facebook is:  The Healing Benefits of 528 Hz & Other Solfeggio Frequencies . Follow the link and take a minute to read through this article. “I  don't really care if it's true or not, it's just fun and interesting.  I'm sure you'll feel the same.” Can 432Hz save the world? (photo from:  Forever Conscious ) Let's get real here. As a professional musician, I care about whether something like this is “true or not.” I also don't find bogus information masquerading as science “fun.” Let's look at some of the “fun” ideas this article presents: There is NO conspiracy to change our musical scales away from some “ ancient and sacred 6-tone scale” to something sinister and menacing. The Solfeggio system is just one of many, many musical systems used throug
Read more

Cracking/Breaking Gongs

Image
This comes from a Facebook percussion group I'm in. Apparently it was either an outdoor marching band or drum corps show: “Kid cracked a gong on the first hit of our show Saturday because he didn’t warm it up. Of course. It’s a decent sized crack, and we don’t have $1000 laying around to buy a new one. Is there any easy way to fix it? It's a Zildjian gong, idk how big, I'm going to GUESS 40"? It's cracked right at the edge of the gold ring and the outer ring, and it's about 4 inches long. The mallet we're using is not that hard and should not have done that kind of damage.” Without actually having been there, or seeing the Gong in person (apparently it was a Chinese Chou Gong), I can only speculate on this, but my first impression is that the kid overplayed the Gong by hitting it way too hard. Playing outdoors is difficult, because the sound dissipates quickly. There are no walls or ceilings to create reflections and contain the sound. Outside, you play
Read more

What's The Best Gong To Buy?

Image
I field questions nearly everyday from people asking about drums, percussion, and especially Gongs. Whether it's via e-mail, message, or even a phone call. the most popular question is:  “What kind of Gong (or singing bowl, or bell, or ride cymbal, or hi-hats, or drum head, or various other things) should I buy?” And I wish that I could just give everyone a nice, tidy, easy answer. But there are none. Part of my initial reaction to the question is, “How should I know?” This is not like buying toothpaste , where I can suggest a whitening one if your teeth look dull, or a freshening one if you have bad breath. Sound is completely subjective and personal I'm sure you wouldn't like some of the instruments I own and use, because they create the most unmusical sounds. But they work for me and the music I'm involved in. But let's look some typical questions and the criteria for recommendations: What Gong should I buy? - Is this your 1st Gong? 2nd? 27th? That ma
Read more