tamtams

Tam-tams are a type of percussion instrument in the gong family, commonly used in Western orchestras and many contemporary music settings. They are large, circular metal discs that are typically suspended and struck with mallets. The sound produced is a resonant, metallic wash with an indefinite pitch, valued more for timbre and duration than for a defined note. The name tam-tam is an onomatopoeic reference to the instrument’s sound and is often used in English-language orchestral terminology.

Construction and technique vary, but tam-tams are usually made of bronze or brass and can range widely in size. Players strike the edge for a brighter attack and a longer, ringing overtones, or near the center for a deeper, more muted tone. The instrument is generally unpitched or only vaguely pitched, and players may dampen the sound with the hand or a cloth to control sustain. Tam-tams are commonly mounted on stands or hung from a frame to allow full resonance.

Historical and cultural notes indicate that the tam-tam name entered Western percussion vocabulary in the 19th and early 20th centuries, as composers sought exotic timbres for orchestral color. Since then, tam-tams have become a standard color instrument in many genres, including classical, film scores, and contemporary music, where they are used to evoke drama, mystery, rain, bells, or distant thunder.

Related instruments include other gongs in the broad gong family; the tam-tam is distinguished in many contexts as a large, flat, generally unpitched gong primarily valued for its sustain and shimmering, metallic texture rather than a definite pitch.