Percussion · Cymbals & gongs
Tam-tam
A large, flat bronze gong without a raised centre. Touched softly it hums; struck hard it swells into a roar.
- Section
- Percussion
- Family
- Cymbals & gongs
- Classification
- Idiophone · gong
- Pitch
- Indefinite (unpitched)
- Notation
- Percussion clef, single line
Parts of the tam-tam
Photo: Thorsten Krienke, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Labels added by Musicians Tools.
Writing for the tam-tam
- Unpitched; written on a single line.
- The sound grows after the stroke. A soft “warming” touch before a loud stroke avoids a harsh crash.
- It rings for a very long time; mark l.v. or ask for damping.
- Scraping, bowing or rubbing with superballs produces eerie sustained sounds.
History
Gongs come from East and Southeast Asia. The tam-tam entered Western music at the time of the French Revolution, when Gossec used it in his funeral music for Mirabeau (1791).
Listen
Key works featuring the tam-tam. Each link opens a YouTube search, so you can pick the recording you like.
Useful tools
Cymbals & gongs
Also in the family (pages coming):Suspended cymbalGong (pitched)
Ancestors:Chinese gong