The atarigane (当たり鉦) is often found in traditional Japanese music or min'yō. Although sometimes suspended from a bar, it is more common for a musician to hold the bell in place with one hand beat it with the other using a special mallet called a shumoku (撞木) or kane yō bachi (鉦用バチ), often made from bone.[1] The kane makes three distinct sounds: chan - hitting the middle; chi - hitting the inside edge; and ki - reversing the stroke. This kind of onomatopoeic mnemonic or Kuchi shōga is common in Japanese music.[1] There are several sizes of kane, such as the atarigane or the surigane[citation needed].
Kane are also used in Buddhist or Shinto ceremonies. In temples, they may be used to signify time or alert people to certain events.
