World Musical Instruments: Gemshorn - Gong



NameImage TraditionDescription
Gemshorn Germany The Gemshorn receives its name from the German language, and means, literally, a chamois horn. It refers to an instrument of the ocarina family that was historically made from the horn of the chamois or other suitable animal. The instrument has a sweet, watery tone color.
Gendér Indonesia A gendér is a type of metallophone used in Balinese and Javanese gamelan music. It consists of 10 to 14 tuned metal bars suspended over a tuned resonator of bamboo or metal, which are tapped with a padded wooden disk. Each key is a note of a different pitch, often extending a little more than two octaves. There are five notes per octave, so in the seven-note pélog scale, some pitches are left out according to the pathet.
Most gamelans include three gendérs, one for slendro, one for pelog pathet nem and lima, and one for pelog pathet barang.
Ghatam India The ghatam is a percussion instrument, used in the Carnatic music of South India. It is an earthenware pot; the artist uses the fingers, thumbs, palms, and heels of the hands to strike the outer surface of the ghatam. An airy low-pitch bass sound, called gumki, is created by hitting the mouth of the pot with an open hand. The artist sometimes presses the mouth of the pot against their bare belly, which deepens the tone of the bass stroke, and is another way to produce the "gumki" sound. Different tones can be produced by hitting different areas of the pot with different parts of the hands. The ghatam usually accompanies a mridangam.
Ghaval Azerbaijan Ghaval, the Azerbaijani frame drum, is played in Azerbaijani folk and art music. In Azerbaijani art music a traditional ensemble contains a singer, which plays on ghaval (center) and two instrumentalists, one plays on tar (long-necked lute)(left) and the other plays on kamancheh (bowed spike fiddle) (right).
Ghungroo India A ghungroo (ghunguru) is a small metallic bell. Many of them strung together form ghungroos which is a musical accessory tied to the feet of classical Indian dancers. The sounds produced by ghungroos vary greatly in pitch depending on their metallic composition and size. Ghungroos serve to accentuate the rhythmic aspects of the dance and allow complex footwork to be heard by the audience. They are worn immediately above the ankle.
Ghaychak Iran The Ghaychak or Ghijak is a round-bodied musical instrument with 3 or 4 metal strings and a short fretless neck. It is used by Iranians, Afghans, Uzbeks, Tajiks, Turkmens and Qaraqalpaks. It is also known as a Kamancha (Kamancheh), an important instrument in Iranian and Azeri classical music and popular music in Iran.
The soundbox is carved out of a single piece of wood. The upper orifice is partly covered in the middle by the handle and the lower one is covered by a skin membrane against which rest the bridge.
Gimbri North Africa A gimbri is a lute-like instrument, originating from North Africa.
The box-like body has a skin stretched over it, with the bridge held against the skin by string tension. The strings pass through a hole and then into the back of the body. The strings are made of sheep gut, and are tuned by adjusting leather bands on the neck. Some versions of the instrument have metal bells or rattles attached to the top of the neck, which jingle when the instrument is played.
It is also known as a sentir, sintir and guimbri.
Glass Harmonica Italy The glass harmonica, also known as the glass armonica, hydrocrystalophone, or simply armonica (derived from "armonia", the Italian word for overtones) is a type of musical instrument that uses a series of glass bowls or goblets graduated in size to produce musical tones by means of friction.
Because its sounding portion is made of glass, the glass harmonica is a crystallophone. The phenomenon of rubbing a wet finger around the rim of a wine goblet to produce tones is documented back to Renaissance times.
Glass Marimba Brazil The glass marimba is a crystallophone that is similar to the marimba, but has glass bars instead of wood bars. The bars, which the performer strikes with padded mallets, are perched on a glass box to provide the necessary resonance. Glass marimbas are utilised by the Brazilian percussion ensemble, Uakti. Uakti is known for using custom-made instruments, built by the Uakti group itself.
The thickness and length of each bar determines the pitch. The longer and thinner a bar is - the lower its pitch will be.
Glockenspiel Germany The glockenspiel (German, "play of bells", also known as orchestra bells and, in its portable form, bell lira or bell lyre) is a musical instrument in the percussion family. It is similar to the xylophone, in that it has tuned bars laid out in a fashion resembling a piano keyboard. The xylophone's bars are wooden, while the glockenspiel's are metal, thus making it a metallophone.
Glockenspiels are still quite popular and appear in almost all genres of music ranging from hip hop to jazz.
Gome Ghana A gome drum is a goatskin stretched over a wooden box frame. The drummer sits on top of the box and plays this drum with both hands. The heels of the player’s feet press against the skin to change the pitch.
Gong Indonesia A gong is an East Asian musical instrument that takes the form of a metal disc which is hit with a mallet. The photo shows a gong collection used in a Gamelan ensemble of Indonesia.
A gamelan typically features a variety of instruments such as metallophones, xylophones, drums, and gongs; bamboo flutes, bowed and plucked strings, and vocalists may also be included.




Prev         Top         Next