Gong Amp

What it does

A model of a 1932 Martenot loudspeaker that used a gong in place of a paper cone, built by Hainbach and AudioThing from convolution, physical modelling and feedback. Audio sent through it excites the gong and picks up its long metallic resonance. Chains can be draped over the plate, a pillow damps it, and pitch, dynamics gain, modulation and a howl setting change how it rings. The gong and cabinet can also be tapped directly to play it.

In the demo

Jade runs it on five tracks at once, on synth bass, guitar and drums, then strips back to one instance to work through the controls. She plays the gong by tapping the graphic, adds and removes the chains and pillow on a bass part, and compares pitch and dynamics settings.

Worth knowing

Resonance this long suits drones and sparse parts more than dense fast material. A desktop version is sold separately by AudioThing.