This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (March 2009)

A gangsa is a type of metallophone which is used mainly in Balinese and Javanese Gamelan music. It consists of several tuned metal bars each placed over an individual resonator. The bars are hit with a mallet, each producing a different pitch. Duration of sound intensity and sound quality factors are generally accomplished by damping the vibration of the bar with the fingers of the free hand. The gangsa is very similar to the gendér and the saron.

A gangsa is also the name of a completely different instrument, one which is indigenous to the cultures found in the mountain regions (the Cordillera) of the northern Philippines. The gangsa of the northern Philippines is a single hand-held smooth-surfaced gong with a narrow rim. A set of gangsa, which is played one gong per musician, consists of gangsa tuned to different notes, depending on regional or local cultural preferences. The number of gangsa in a set varies with availability, and depends on the tradition of a particular ethnic group of the Luzon Cordillera: Kalinga, Ifugao, Bontoc, etc.

Among the Kalinga people in the Cordillera region of Luzon Island, the gangsa is played in two ways. One way is called "toppaya" and the other is called "pattung." In "toppaya" style, the musicians play the surface of the gangsa with their hand while in a sitting position, with a single gangsa resting on the lap of each musician. In the "pattung" style, a gangsa is suspended from the musician's left hand and played with a padded stick held in the musician's right hand. In the "pattung" style of playing, the players are standing, or they keep in step with the dancers while bending forward slightly.

This article relating to percussion instruments is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e