The Selling of Gongs As Snake Oil

“There's a sucker born every minute” is a phrase that was popular among gamblers and confidence men in the past. They often used sleight of hand, or double talk, in order to bilk ordinary people out of their money and property.

 And things haven't changed much today. With the amazing growth and popularity of using Gongs for personal or group therapy/healing/meditation, there has also been a rise in people hoping to find a sucker to sell their snake oil to.

 Today's subject has pinned the BullShit Meter totally into the red…


This advertisement for a 4-day Gong Masters Training Workshop, came across my radar recently. Please check it out here.


They make some interesting claims, throw in some flowery new age language filled with buzz words (Gong master, cosmic, life transforming, ancient, powerful, activation), and make some amazing promises. I have to say that I'm impressed. But what really gets me is the very last sentence at the bottom, after the list of What You Learn:
“This Seminar will make you competent & qualified enough work as a professional Gong master with tremendous success & global recognition.”

Please, go back and reread the above a few more times. 

 They claim that after a 4-day seminar, you will be competent & qualified enough [sic] work as a professional Gong master with tremendous success & global recognition.

 Tremendous success & global recognition! And after only 4 days! Where do I sign up? Take my money please!


Let's be realistic here people, is there anything in the world you can master after just 4 days/30 hours of instruction? These kind of claims are a slap in the face to people who do real study and real training, like actual Music Therapists, who go to a certified college or university, and study for years before getting a degree.

This is just like those get rich quick schemes that promise you amazing wealth in only a few days—the only ones getting rich are the sellers of the schemes.


A 4-day seminar may get you started on the path. That is it. It’s up to you to keep walking on that path for years and years, and to keep learning.


~ MB
Chop Wood / carry Water / Play Gongs™ / Work Hard
PS - Don't get me started on the “Planetary Gong Bells”…

Comments

  1. OzymandiasMarch 29, 2018 at 4:07 PM

    I have been working with my instruments as Tranquil Sound Gardens for a good while now. I do not tell people that I OR the instruments do anything to the audience. I do say that I intend to cultivate tranquillity. I do say that people might relax, nap, consider healing, or just listen to the sounds. I do not hold any certifications, authorizations, or identifications. I continue to study the physics of the instruments, and the reactions to sound and music that people have, but that study does not make me anything except a guy that likes to play for people who hopefully will enjoy the experience in their own way. I feel that the instruments can speak for themselves, and dosing the audience with a ocean of snake oil is unnecessary to my purpose. The purpose is the key. (Steps down off soapbox) Anyone else?

    ReplyDelete

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