The kenong, like the gongs, are punctuating instruments. The kenong are related to gongs. Essentially, a kenong kettle is a small, but deep tuned gong that is suspended on cords in a rack.
The musician sits in the middle of all of the instruments (which include kettles from both scales). Kenong beaters are large sticks with a padded end. Normally, the musician will play a kenong and let it ring. In some pieces, the kenong is played in rapid succession. The player must dampen the instrument with the beater so only the desired pitch is heard.
In many pieces, the kenong play at the end of each line (called kenongan). A number of kenongan makes up a gongan, or one gong-cycle of a piece.
More Javanese gamelan instruments.
Created: 2002-04-13