communication via drums, gongs, bells (was Re: FYI re: Greenberg's Universals

In a message dated 2000:10:07 2:30:35 PM, yl112@CORNELL.EDU writes:

>Hmm.  Would drums be used for communications rather than bells because
>drums are (more) portable?  <pondering>  How portable are gongs?  And
>would it matter for a fixed drum/gong/bell-outpost?
    Well, from Chinese history... bells were not terribly portable and some
very huge drums were used as military "issue". The big war drums were used to
rally the troops and intimidate the enemy and were drawn on huge horse-drawn
carts (practically juggernauts - especially on inclines, hehe).
    Bells and gongs tend to have a long decay time compared to drums. Bells
tend to have sounds that _CAN_ travel miles (there is/was one bell in China
that supposedly could be heard 3-5 miles away - depending on the weather
conditions!). Depending on gong-type and size, sound can travel a decent
distance but not to the extent of bells (i.e. large knobbed gongs - like
those seen and heard in SouthEast Asia - are quite LOUD... afterall they are
almost the perfect loudspeaker/amplifier cone shape).
    IMHO drums are more suitable for actual communications as opposed to
simply signals. (IIRC communication drums were used along the Great Wall
besides fire signals).

    czHANg