The ''kkwaenggwari'' () is a small flat

gong A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...

used primarily in the folk music of

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

. It is made of

brass Brass is an alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn), in proportions which can be varied to achieve different mechanical, electrical, and chemical properties. It is a substitutional alloy: atoms of the two constituents may replace each other with ...

and is played with a hard stick. It produces a distinctively high-pitched, metallic tone that breaks into a

cymbal A cymbal is a common percussion instrument. Often used in pairs, cymbals consist of thin, normally round plates of various alloys. The majority of cymbals are of indefinite pitch, although small disc-shaped cymbals based on ancient designs soun ...

-like crashing

timbre In music, timbre ( ), also known as tone color or tone quality (from psychoacoustics), is the perceived sound quality of a musical note, sound or musical tone, tone. Timbre distinguishes different types of sound production, such as choir voice ...

when struck forcefully. It is particularly important in ''

samul nori Samul nori (사물놀이) is a genre of percussion music that originated in Korea. The word ''samul'' means "four objects", while ''nori'' means "play". Samul nori is performed with four traditional Korean musical instruments. They are '' Kkwaengg ...

'' and ''

pungmul ''Pungmul'' (; ) is a Korean folk music tradition that includes drumming, dancing, and singing. Most performances are outside, with dozens of players all in constant motion. ''Pungmul'' is rooted in the ''dure'' (collective labor) farming cultur ...

'', although it is also used in other genres. The instrument's name is likely

onomatopoetic Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', ''m ...

for the sound the instrument produces, "kkwaeng-kkwaeng" (hangul: 꽹꽹). An alternate name is ''swe''. This gong is struck with a wooden mallet to produce a sharp, attention commanding sound. The instrument is commonly used in folk performing arts in Korea, including shamanic music, dance, and mask dance drama, and is the lead instrument in

. Sound is largely divided into Gaen(갠 )gang (갱), and zig-gaen (''지갠''). In

Nongak ''Pungmul'' (; ) is a Korean folk music tradition that includes drumming, dancing, and singing. Most performances are outside, with dozens of players all in constant motion. ''Pungmul'' is rooted in the ''dure'' (collective labor) farming cultur ...

, the person who beats a kkwaenggwari is called '' Sangsoe''(

korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

: 상쇠) or '' Busoe''(

: 부쇠). '' Sangsoe'' is responsible for directing the entire flow.

Structure

The front of the kkwaenggwari is a ring plate with a diameter of 35 to 40 cm. The back of the kkwaenggwari is an open plate and is blocked with the left hand to control the volume and tone of the kkwaenggwari. The string on the kkwaenggwari is used to hold the kkwaenggwari with one hand. The thumb of the left hand is placed on the hook and the rest of the fingers inside the border behind the kkwaenggwari ring plate, with the tip of the index finger supporting the inside of the edge. The stick of the kkwaenggwari is generally made of hard wood, such as that of trifoliate trees.

References

Gongs Korean musical instruments {{Idiophone-instrument-stub