Korean Poongmul drumming, also called Nong Ak meaning farmer's music, is played during festivals to celebrate planting an harvesting. It is also connected to Korean shamanism. Recently this style has been tailored for stage performance and is referred to as Samulnori (meaning "playing four things"). The hourglass shaped drum called Chyango has a bass left side that is played with a mallet and a treble right side that is played with a thin bamboo stick. Chyango rhythms often stress upbeats giving them an upswinging mood which is countered by the downbeat emphasizing Puk, a flat barrel drum played with a large stick. Chyango phrases are usually several beats long and filled with trills making them mentally engaging to listen to.
Two gongs accompany the Puk and Chyango. The larger, called Ching, is played with a soft mallet and has a a warm pitch that dips and then rises as the vibration dissipates through the body of the gong. The smaller gong, called Kuengari, is played with a hard mallet. Because of its high pitch it is used as a guide for the the other musicians to synchronize with.
There is an energetic dance that is performed wearing a hat with a swiveling stick tipped with a ribbon, called Sangmo. The musicians will often play their instruments at the same time that they spin their bodies and twirl the Sangmo ribon with flicks of their head.
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