Gongs have an added significance in Chinese percussion. Usually made of bronze and with shapes similar to those of plates, the use of these circular instruments can be traced to the 6th century – the Northern Wei period. Gongs boast a complexity unrivalled by other Chinese percussion instruments, with various gongs commanding different names, shapes and makes. It is, till today, impossible to list or even trace all the different gongs that are used in China. Among the most important categories of gongs are the jingdaluo gongs and the daluo gongs. The jingdaluo gongs have a diameter of about 30 cm and a playing surface of about five cm. Such gongs are higher in pitch, commanding a smaller surface. Daluo gongs have a diameter of about 35 cm and a playing surface of about 10-12 cm. These gongs produce darker tonal colours.
Several gongs that can be found in the Chinese orchestra are the big gong, small gong, ten-faced gongs and pitched gongs.
Big Gong
Big gongs do not have definite pitches and are capable of producing varying pitches as well as a variety of overtones depending on where and the intensity in which it has been hit. Pitch is seldom talked about with regards to gongs as the sound texture of the gong takes precedence over its other attributes.
Small Gong
Of a considerably smaller size when compared to the big gong, the small gong has a circular face in the center of the instrument. With a diameter of about 15 cm and a face of about 4 cm, this gong is played using a wooden stick in the shape of a plank. The small gongusually adds an element of comedy into the music. It can also serve to personify certain characters in the opera. In the Chinese orchestra, the big gong is often accompanied by the small gong.
Ten-faced Gong
The ten-faced gong is a set of gongs put together on a stand, played by a standing player using drumsticks. Each gong possesses a different tonal colour, pitch and volume. This instrument was incorporated into the Chinese orchestra after the liberation by Chinese musicians.
Constructed with different tonal colours, pitches and volumes in mind, there is no current standardisation of what a ten-faced gong should actually be, proving a difficulty in scoring.
Yunluo (Pitched Gongs)
Like the ten-faced gong , the pitched gongs are also various small gongs with fixed pitches, fixed on a stand and are normally played with mallets. Often referred to as a ten-faced gong in some provinces, the names of the ten-faced gongs and the p itched g ongs have been used interchangeably. The gongs on the p itched g ongs are usually smaller and have tighter but brighter tonal colours. As a result of the number of gongs, pitches or types of gongs used in the instrument not being standardised, there have been a multitude of variations for the pitched gongs. The instrument can be played at fast speeds. Hard-tipped drumsticks that produce strong clear sounds and yarn mallets that produce gentle resonant sounds are the two main types of beaters used to play the pitched gongs.
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