The bangu (), often simply gu (), is a Chinese

frame drum A frame drum is a drum that has a drumhead width greater than its depth. It is one of the most ancient musical instruments, and perhaps the first drum to be invented. It has a single drumhead that is usually made of rawhide, but man-made mat ...

that, when struck by one or two small bamboo sticks, creates a sharp dry sound essential to the aesthetics of

Chinese opera Traditional Chinese opera (), or ''Xiqu'', is a form of musical theatre in China with roots going back to the early periods in China. It is an amalgamation of various art forms that existed in ancient China, and evolved gradually over more tha ...

. Striking the drum in different places produces different sounds. It is also used in many Chinese

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

ensembles. The percussion section is very important in Chinese Opera, with battle or 'martial' scenes, which are called wu-chang. The bangu player is the director or conductor of the orchestra. He works with the other members of the percussion section to create the right mood for the audience and actors on stage.

Construction

The drum, which is about 25 cm (10 inches) in diameter and 10 cm (4 inches) deep. The frame of the Bangu drum is made of wedges of hard wood glued together to form a circle. Animal skin is then stretched over the frame of wedges, which is then secured by a metal band. The wedges do not reach the small area in the centre (the drum’s heart or "guxin") where the drum is struck. The bangu is held in its own stand with four iron rings. Some versions have only three rings and three supporting legs. These versions are usually portable, with a collapsible stand section.

Guban

When used together with ''

paiban The ''paiban'' () is a clapper made from several flat pieces of hardwood or bamboo (or, formerly, sometimes also ivory or metal), which is used in many different forms of Chinese music. There are many different types of ''paiban'', and the instr ...

'' clappers (both played together by a single player, the ''paiban'' held in one hand and the bangu played with a stick held in the other) the two instruments are referred to collectively as ''

guban The Guban ( so, Guban, 'burnt' or 'burned') is the indigenous name for northwestern Somaliland. References *Hadden, Robert Lee. 2007"The Geology of Somalia: A Selected Bibliography of Somalian Geology, Geography and Earth Science."Engineer Resea ...

'' ( 鼓板). Somewhat confusingly, the clapper is sometimes also referred to, without the drum, as ''guban''. When used as part of a ''guban'', the ''bangu'' is used in several genres of ''

shuochang ''Quyi'' ("melodious art") and ''shuochang yishu'' ("speaking and singing art") are umbrella terms for over 300 regional genres of traditional Chinese oral performing arts. ''Quyi'' is distinguished from ''xiqu'' (Chinese opera) by its emphasis o ...

'' (Chinese story-singing), as well as in

Beijing opera Peking opera, or Beijing opera (), is the most dominant form of Chinese opera, which combines music, vocal performance, mime, dance and acrobatics. It arose in Beijing in the mid-Qing dynasty (1644–1912) and became fully developed and recognize ...

, ''

kunqu Kunqu (), also known as Kunju (), K'un-ch'ü, Kun opera or Kunqu Opera, is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. Kunqu is one of the oldest traditional operas of the Han nationality, and is also a treasure of Chinese traditional cult ...

'', and

Yue opera Yue opera, also known as Shaoxing opera, is the Chinese opera genre. Only Peking opera is more popular nationwide. Originating in Shengzhou, Shaoxing, Zhejiang Province in 1906, Yue opera features actresses in male roles as well as femininity ...

External links

Picture

The bangu pictured is a highly decorative version, whilst more normal versions can be seen on Paul Noll's website
China Choices
and at The Met museum’s website
Bangu

Video

Short video clips of it being played can be found at Chinese Cinderella:
Movie Zone 6
{{Authority control Drums Chinese musical instruments