My Nibiru Gong . . .

[Sound Creation Rob]

Hi Friends,

     I've owned a Nibiru gong for about a year. Ever since I had it it makes an unusual sound. It's got a pretty standard (and great!) planet gong sound when I initially strike it. After about 10 seconds or so it develops a really thick humming kind of overtone - it's hard to describe. It just soars . . . I'm not complaining. In it's way it's quite cool but I'm curious if anyone has any ideas as to the origin of this sound? I was wondering if it could be related to the gut?

Any ideas? Thanks!

Rob

[Paul Ford]

Rob, possibly but not 100% with my theory here. That the humming could be a sub harmonic tone, a result of the relationship of how the partial tones are excited/ diminished. I have heard this on another gong before. But it only occurred after striking the gong face at a particular point twice, which triggered the harmonic.

Correct me if i am wrong please, im no professor of Music theory! 

[Sound Creation Rob]

Hi Paul,

     Thanks for your help. Yes, I have to hit it "just right" and usually right in the centre to produce the sound. As I said, it doesn't bother me but I've often wondered about this.

Thanks again.

Rob

[Phil McNamara]

Hi Rob

It is interesting that you are striking the gong in the centre. The 'tam-tam' gongs are designed to be struck off centre (about the 5 - 7 o'clock position on the 'scraped' area) and this is where you will find the 'sweet spot'. Myself and other sound healers consider the centre to be the 'heart' of the gong so don't strike it here, and in my percussionist mode, I would never strike the gong here as the note is somewhat 'dull' compared to ther parts. For a tuned (bossed) gong, striking in the centre is the optimum place.

That said, there are no rules as to where you may wish to strike the gong so please do whatever you intuitively feel is right! 

[Sound Creation Rob]

Thanks for the info, Phil. Actually, I play my gongs in many areas. I see nothing wrong with playing the "heart" of the gong. For me it's a nice contrast to the "sweet-spot." My favorite position on the 38" Sun gong is in fact the "heart." Each to their own, I guess. 

[Phil McNamara]

Rob

I would be interested in what 'mode' you tend to use the Nibiru gong - bringing about 'big change' in people or some other esoteric way. Some of my sound healing colleagues are avoiding it due to a perceived 'destructive' element.

When I visited the Paiste factory in Sept 2011, I noticed more of these gongs in the stock room then any others. Presumably they were expecting a 'rush' on these prior to the 2012 apocolypse...

[Bill]

I'm with you Rob. I cannot imagine only playing a gong (or almost any musical instrument) in only one way or place. I love the sound of a Symphonic played in the center. Sounds nice and warm to me, but I also play it in the 'optimum' sweet spot, on the rim, and anywhere else with all types of mallets and tools.

I do understand where you are coming from too Phil. As a sound healer you must be conscientious of what sounds good to and benefits the person(s) receiving the sound treatment.

I do sound immersion events where I play in a very slow, ambient style and while I am not a trained sound healer I know that there are benefits just by the relaxing nature and sonic vibrations that gongs provide.

I also do what I would call musical performances with gongs and metal percussion where I not only play the slower ambient stuff, but play melodic and rhythmic compositions that are faster paced and sometimes loud and dissonant (such as Chinese opera gongs).

I think it boils down to what you intend to achieve with the gongs at the time you are playing them.

[Sound Creation Rob]

Rob

I would be interested in what 'mode' you tend to use the Nibiru gong - bringing about 'big change' in people or some other esoteric way. Some of my sound healing colleagues are avoiding it due to a perceived 'destructive' element.

When I visited the Paiste factory in Sept 2011, I noticed more of these gongs in the stock room then any others. Presumably they were expecting a 'rush' on these prior to the 2012 apocolypse...

Hi Phil,

      So far, my use of my gongs has been in a "meditative performance" setting. I've always chosen my gongs based on some "intuitive" kind of sense - not strictly on the fundamental note or prescribed meaning (although, those are all good). My first planet gong was a 26" Neptune. I grew up on the West Coast and the ocean has always been a deep source of fascination and inspiration. Naturally, the Neptune gong sounded like an interesting first choice (it was also one of less expensive ones!). I then bought the 26" Sound Creation Earth . . . now I have around 46 gongs.
     I guess back to your question, I simply played it without too much thought on some of the Nibiru/2012 ideas floating out there. I respect people's ideas, but for me it was primarily just the sound of it I was interested in - and how the fundamental "E" may work with other gongs. For some reason I never really connected with it and I've since sold it. I think a big reason is I've also got a 32" Saturn and a 32" Chiron, so the Nibiru was just too similar.
      One last thing about the "Heart" of the gong. I mentioned I like to play my 38" Sun gong in the center. While recording a CD recently I had tried to record a piece using 6 different gongs. After recording this well-planned idea, I realized that it wasn't all that good! I realized I only need 1 gong on the piece . . . I instantly knew it was the "Sun" gong calling me. And I instantly got titles like "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun" and "Heart Of The Sunrise" (being an old prog-rock fan!). Anyways, the deep pulsing sound I got from the center or "heart" of the Sun gong inspired my piece "The Heart Of The Sun"!

All the best!

Rob

[Sound Creation Rob]

I'm with you Rob. I cannot imagine only playing a gong (or almost any musical instrument) in only one way or place. I love the sound of a Symphonic played in the center. Sounds nice and warm to me, but I also play it in the 'optimum' sweet spot, on the rim, and anywhere else with all types of mallets and tools.

I do understand where you are coming from too Phil. As a sound healer you must be conscientious of what sounds good to and benefits the person(s) receiving the sound treatment.

I do sound immersion events where I play in a very slow, ambient style and while I am not a trained sound healer I know that there are benefits just by the relaxing nature and sonic vibrations that gongs provide.

I also do what I would call musical performances with gongs and metal percussion where I not only play the slower ambient stuff, but play melodic and rhythmic compositions that are faster paced and sometimes loud and dissonant (such as Chinese opera gongs).

I think it boils down to what you intend to achieve with the gongs at the time you are playing them.

Hi Bill,

     I get great results playing my planet and symphonic gongs on the edge with tympani mallets! I also have been experimenting a lot with rub mallets recently. I love the variety of tone available.

All the best,

Rob