Atarigane

Extract

Japanese saucer-shaped gong. It has a flat face about 9 to 15 cm in diameter and a perpendicular wall about 3 to 5 cm deep that angles outward to form a rim around the opening. The face normally has concentric grooves. The term atarigane, which is often used interchangeably with the term surigane, refers both to the playing method and the material of the instrument: atari (strike); gane/kane (metallophone). The alternative term surigane (suri means rub, as in rubbing the beater along the inside of the instrument during certain playing techniques) is also used, but because of a negative connotation associated with a homonym, meaning to lose money, the term atarigane is usually preferred.

A further term, kane, is used generically for this type of instrument. Several onomatopoeic terms for the instrument include chanchiki, konchiki, and changiri. The atarigane is either held in the player’s palm or suspended from a cord attached to two projections on the circumference, and is usually struck on the inner surface. A small T-shape beater (...