The Sound of the Gong

By Mehtab, Founder of Yoga Yoga
July 2011

If you have been coming to Yoga Yoga for very long, you have probably heard the sound of the gong being played at the end of some of our classes. We especially use it in the Kundalini Yoga classes although, it is now showing up in some relaxation and hatha classes as well.

What's the deal? What does a gong have to do with the practice of yoga? Well, actually a lot. The gong is a natural portal to meditation and a perfect complement or ending to to your yoga class. The gong's ability to transform and enlighten us lies within its unique sound.

When you hear the gong for the first time, it challenges you to experience sound in a surprising and almost totally unique way. It is unlike any other musical instrument, both in how it behaves and how it interacts with the listener.

All musical instruments produce a sound envelope when played. The sound envelope consists of the initial sound made by the instrument when it is set into play, such as plucking a guitar string or striking a piano key, and then the accompanying decline of its sound over time. Most musical sounds have a predictable decline of sound (called the "decay") after the initial play or moment of impact (called the "attack"). The attack and decay cycle of an instrument's sound envelope determine how the listener experiences the sound.

The sound envelope of a gong, however, is unpredictable, non-linear and indeed trans-spatial. After the strike by the head of the mallet, the gong's sound swells to an initial peak and begins to decay smoothly. After the first decay, however, the gong's sound returns of its own accord without any additional attack and builds to a second and even higher sound peak before finally fading away. The gong's sound envelope is like the delayed action of a wave that falls and then returns to an even higher level. This wave-like movement of peaks and valleys in the gong's sound carries the listener farther and farther on a journey, much like the swelling tides of the ocean, always returning and building again and again.

This returning sound of the gong was once described by Yogi Bhajan, the master of Kundalini Yoga and the Gong, as "resound." He explained that the "gong is not the sound, gong is the resound. Before resound you have no power. You go in the mountain, you say one word, that echo will go thousands times more, thousands of miles. That is the power of the resounding sound or anahad (note: sound without limit or boundaries). Unlimited sound vibrates and creates light and creates life."

Because of its returning sound or "resounding," the gong produces a complex synthesis of blended overtones that allow the listener to learn to listen in a completely new way. As the returning waves build on each other to produce new and intricate tones, the sound of the gong becomes so complex, so unpredictably translinear, the human mind is unable to categorize it.

As a result of the mind's inability to identify and predict the sound, people often hear a multitude of other instruments within the sound of the gong as the mind creatively attempts to compare and contrast what this sound could be. With eyes closed, some people are convinced that other music or instruments or electric amplification must be used to create the complexity and texture of the sound made by a single gong. Even with eyes open, people hear bells, drums, harps, horns or even voices singing as the gong is played.

This entirely personal perception of the gong's sound is due to its undertones. These undertones, which are produced when loud tones are sounded together, are known as combination tones. Acousticians consider combination tones to be a physiological phenomenon, rather than an acoustical one, because the tones are actually synthesized within the inner ear of each listener by the vibration of the cochlea, or extremely delicate hairs. The gong thus produces an inner sound as well as an outer sound. It is this dual sound that takes each listener deeper into their own experience of being so that the sound of the gong becomes individually unique to each person.

Due to its unique sound, the gong can produce what can only be called a spontaneous state of meditation. If you want to experience this for yourself, come to one of Kundalini Yoga of Sound classes or read more about the gong in my book, Gong Yoga.

Get yourself gonged and hear what all the buzz is about!