Editing Gong (section)

==Orchestral usage==
[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Gong (gamelan instrument) Kempul TMnr 4423-2.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Gong ageng]] in [[Gamelan|Javanese Gamelan]] ensemble]]

The gong has been used in the orchestra to intensify the impression of fear and horror in melodramatic scenes and usually, but not exclusively, players interpret the term to call for a [[tam-tam]], as noted [[#Chau gong (tam-tum)|above]]. The tam-tam was first introduced into a western orchestra by [[François-Joseph Gossec]] in the funeral march composed at the death of [[Honoré Mirabeau|Mirabeau]] in 1791.{{sfn|Schlesinger|1911}} [[Gaspare Spontini]] used the tam-tam in ''La Vestale's'' (1807) Act II finale. [[Berlioz]] called for four tam-tams in his ''[[Requiem (Berlioz)|Grande Messe des morts]]'' of 1837.<ref>{{IMSLP|work=Grande Messe des Morts (Requiem) (Berlioz, Louis Hector)|cname=''Grande Messe des Morts''}}</ref> The tam-tam was also used in the funeral music played when the remains of [[Napoleon]] were brought back to France in 1840. [[Meyerbeer]] made use of the instrument in the scene of the resurrection of the three nuns in ''Robert le diable.'' Four tam-tams are used at [[Bayreuth Festspielhaus|Bayreuth]] in ''[[Parsifal]]'' to reinforce the bell instruments although there is no indication given in the score.{{sfn|Schlesinger|1911}} In more modern music, the tam-tam has been used by composers such as [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]] in ''[[Mikrophonie (Stockhausen)|Mikrophonie I]]'' (1964–65) and by [[George Crumb]]. In ''Makrokosmos III: Music For A Summer Evening'' (1974), Crumb expanded the timbral range of the tam-tam by giving performance directions such as using a "well-rosined contrabass bow" to bow the tam-tam. This produced an eerie harmonic sound. Stockhausen created more interesting sounds using hand-held microphones and a wide range of scraping, tapping, rubbing, and beating techniques with unconventional implements such as plastic dishes, egg timers, and cardboard tubes. Gongs can also be immersed into a tub of water after being struck. This is called "water gong" and is called for in several orchestral pieces.

Tuned gongs have also been used with the symphony orchestra, e.g. sets of differently tuned gongs used by [[Messiaen]] in pieces such as ''[[Des canyons aux étoiles]]'' and ''[[Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum]]''.