SCHOOL OF SOUND ~ ELECTIVES
language of the gong
Course Description
Duration: 3 Days (10:00 AM - 6:00 PM each day)
Language of the Gong is a transformative three-day course designed to help you develop both a musical and personal language with the gong. This immersive experience will guide you in refining your technical skills, deepening your sense of musicality, and enhancing your ability to create flowing and powerful sonic experiences. Whether you are an experienced player or new to the gong, this course will give you the tools to play with greater presence and intentionality.
Throughout the course, participants will explore various facets of gong playing that will elevate their practice. You'll learn to:
- Refine your playing technique, achieving expressive control over dynamics, rhythm, and tone.
- Integrate structure and form into your playing, creating seamless transitions and fluid movements.
- Develop a deeper understanding of time and space in your compositions, using silence as an active element.
- Explore spontaneous composition within a structured framework, allowing for creative freedom while maintaining flow.
- Sharpen your listening skills, enhancing your ability to respond intuitively to the gong’s resonance and the surrounding soundscape.
This course emphasizes the ability to craft a sound experience that is both powerful and transformative, helping you bring your audience on a journey through sound. Whether performing solo or as part of an ensemble, you will gain the confidence and tools to create immersive and dynamic soundscapes.
Course Objectives
- A personalized approach to gong playing, expanding your sonic vocabulary and deepening your musicality.
- Enhanced technical skills for precision, control, and creativity in your playing.
- The ability to create continuous, flowing soundscapes that resonate deeply with listeners.
- Practical tools for staying present and connected during performances, guiding the listener through a transformative experience.
- Confidence to compose spontaneously and perform with intention, creating music that feels alive and responsive.
This course is open to participants of all levels and is perfect for musicians, sound healers, or anyone looking to deepen their relationship with the gong. Whether you’re seeking to enhance your technical abilities or explore the creative and meditative aspects of gong music, Language of the Gong offers a rich and immersive learning experience.
Who Can Take Electives?
- You do not need to be registered in the School of Sound Foundational Diploma Program to take an elective.
- Everyone is open to taking our electives.
- If, after taking an elective you decide to join the Foundational Diploma Program, credits have earned will be applied to your 24 hours of elective requirements.
Dates - Location - Price
Further details and sign up link coming soon!
meet your instructor
mike tamburo
Mike Tamburo is a world-renowned musician, composer, artist and educator. He is known and loved for his transformational live concerts performed on his personally curated set of gongs, bells and other metal instruments. A lifelong multi-instrumentalist, Tamburo has focused his talents on metal percussion instruments, string instruments (hammered dulcimer, guitar, zither, shahi baaja), as well as electronic instruments (synths, looping). Since 1994, Tamburo has shared more than 2,000 concerts and workshops. He has recorded over 70 albums, both solo and in collaboration with Crown of Eternity, Meisha, Arco Flute Foundation, Psychic Frost, Brother Ong and more, ranging from epic gong music to ecstatic and transcendental string music, as well as folk, drone, space rock, ambient, mantra music and sometimes unclassifiable sounds. This man loves music in all its forms! He teaches gong music, both in person and online with School of Gong. He is also a part of the far-reaching ethnomusicology trio, Dig Deeper, with Mitch Nur and Thomas Orr Anderson. Their online classes have explored countless musical concepts with a focus on the cultural and personal uses of sound for healing, meditation, trance, ecstatic states, relaxation, self transformation, perception, psycho-acoustics, scientific discovery, time and community. An early adoptee of meditation, Tamburo’s music offers space for journeying, self-exploration and deep introspection. During many of his early performances, he experienced altered states of consciousness and out of body experiences. To understand these experiences, he explored kundalini yoga, energy work, the therapeutic use of sound and how sound impacts consciousness, human perception and self healing. His love for long sustained drones, overtones and psychoacoustics continues to inspire him to explore music in further directions. Tamburo is also an interdisciplinary sound artist, instrument builder, video artist, sound therapist, writer and meditation teacher.
Read More About School of Sound
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Option 1 Core Module Dates
In Person Training
Attend 6 weekends in person at the Sound Journey Store in Beamsville, Ontario, Canada to earn your core modules. Click HERE for all Option 1 details.
Option 2 Core Module Dates
Part Zoom & 5 Days Intensive in Person
Join in on Zoom for 6 days and then come for 5 days to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to earn your core modules. Click HERE for all Option 2 details.
Electives
Become and Expert in Your Field
Click HERE to learn more about who is teaching your electives, and what you can learn.