The Art of Sound, Part 1

“So in that sound you have to put in your guts, your strength and your own specialness. And what you are putting in then is your own Life and your own Life Force. When you hear some music or hear some sound, if for some reason you like it very well; the reason is that sound is in balance or in harmony with your pulse. And so making a sound, you try to make various different sounds that imitate various different sounds of the universe, but what you are finally making is your own sound, the sound of yourself.”- Watazumi Doso Roshi
Photo from shakuhachi.com
Watazumi Doso Roshi (1911-1992) was one of the most renown and respected players of the Shakuhachi, the Japanese bamboo flute. While the Shakuhachi is a fairly primitive instrument—a hollowed out length of bamboo with a carved mouthpiece and 5 holes—it is capable of an amazingly beautiful and expressive sound.

What has this to do with the Gong? Well, the Gong is even a simpler instrument—a vibrating disc of metal—that is also capable of a Universe of beautiful sounds. And everything that Watazumi Doso Roshi said above applies to playing the Gong, Bowls, and Bells.

As I've written before, the best advice I ever received from one of my teachers was, “Make a good sound.” On the surface, this appears simple, but I'm amazed at how many people play Gongs/Bowls/Bells and make harsh, unpleasant sounds. I don't find this relaxing at all. On the contrary, I find it difficult to listen to. Or even if the sound is not harsh, it has no meaning behind it. The sounds seem casually tossed out without any care, so there's nothing compelling about them. Or as Watazumi said above, the music lacks the sound of yourself.

 And it's not just the sound, it's the random, haphazard way that people play. There doesn't seem to be any plan or direction other than “Let's keep hitting things.”

Your mission for the next week is to record your next session/performance/rehearsal and then sit down and listen to it with a critical ear. 
  • How do your sounds sound? 
  • Are they pleasant, inspiring, relaxing—or are they harsh, disruptive, disagreeable? 
  • Does what you play have a sense of direction, tell a story—or is it arbitrary and difficult to follow?

Do your homework!

~ MB

Chop Wood / Carry water / Play Gongs™








Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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

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