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A rock gong is a slab of rock that is hit like a drum, and is an example of a lithophone. Examples have been found in
Rock gongs are often large dolerite rocks; Fagg describes examples that weigh up to several tons. They are almost always entirely solid, as playing rocks in other such states would result in a hollow and less metallic tone. Fagg identifies that the tone produced by the vibrating rock is not necessarily influenced by the size of the rock, provided that the resonating stone is not dampened by the solid earth.
Rock gongs would be played by striking the rock's surface with a hand-held stone. This beater would often be made of igneous stone, but examples of metamorphic quartzite beaters have been discovered.
Although often played solo, gongs can be played as an ensemble, with evidence that gongs for four players were sometimes used. These larger stones can have up to 50 tuned depressions. When measured against a tuning fork, a depression on one particular gong was found to have a
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...
, Asia
Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...
, and Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
. Regional names for the rock gong include ''kungering'', ''kwerent dutse'', ''gwangalan'', ''kungereng'', ''kongworian'', and ''kuge''. These names are all onomatopœic, except for "kuge" which is the Hausa word for a double iron bell and "dawal" which is the Ge`ez word for a church's stone gong.
History
Rock gongs have been found in various African locations, such as sites inBurkina Faso
Burkina Faso is a landlocked country in West Africa, bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the south, and Ivory Coast to the southwest. It covers an area of 274,223 km2 (105,87 ...
, Niger
Niger, officially the Republic of the Niger, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is a unitary state Geography of Niger#Political geography, bordered by Libya to the Libya–Niger border, north-east, Chad to the Chad–Niger border, east ...
, Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
, Sudan
Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...
, Tanzania in Siuyu and Ughaugha, also in Serengeti (see Itambu, et al. 2018), Uganda
Uganda, officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. It is bordered to the east by Kenya, to the north by South Sudan, to the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to the south-west by Rwanda, and to the ...
, and Zambia
Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...
. The Kupgal petroglyph site in India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
, which was originally discovered in 1892 (though lost and rediscovered in the 21st century), includes a large number of rock gongs alongside rock art. The site dates to the Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
period.
Rock gongs were brought to the attention of the anthropological community in 1956 by archaeologist
Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...
Bernard Fagg. Fagg identified that the first recorded discovery of rock gongs (or "ringing rocks used for the production of musical notes") was in Birnin Kudu, Nigeria
Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...
, in June 1955. He drew a link between the geographic distribution of rock gongs and cave paintings, stating that the gongs' proximity to cave paintings "leaves little doubt that they are associated in some way".
Description
Rock gongs are often large dolerite rocks; Fagg describes examples that weigh up to several tons. They are almost always entirely solid, as playing rocks in other such states would result in a hollow and less metallic tone. Fagg identifies that the tone produced by the vibrating rock is not necessarily influenced by the size of the rock, provided that the resonating stone is not dampened by the solid earth.
Rock gongs would be played by striking the rock's surface with a hand-held stone. This beater would often be made of igneous stone, but examples of metamorphic quartzite beaters have been discovered.
Although often played solo, gongs can be played as an ensemble, with evidence that gongs for four players were sometimes used. These larger stones can have up to 50 tuned depressions. When measured against a tuning fork, a depression on one particular gong was found to have a fundamental frequency
The fundamental frequency, often referred to simply as the ''fundamental'' (abbreviated as 0 or 1 ), is defined as the lowest frequency of a Periodic signal, periodic waveform. In music, the fundamental is the musical pitch (music), pitch of a n ...
of 216 Hz.
Continuous playing of the instrument produces smooth indentations in the rock and a matte-like texture.
See also
* Bell stone * Ringing rocksFootnotes
Sources
* * * * * * * * * * *Further reading
* * {{percussion African percussion instruments Asian percussion instruments Lithophones Precolonial African musical instruments Precolonial Indian musical instruments