ONE of the largest gongs ever made tours to Stroud this week.

Master gong practitioner, Bear Love is bringing the giant instrument to the Trinity Rooms on Saturday, where he will be holding a sound journey, as a fundraiser towards next years Stroud Sacred Music Festival.

A sound journey, or gong bath is an opportunity to experience a state of deep relaxation, invoked purely by sound.

The gong produces frequencies which cause the human body to resonate in harmony, and this helps to effectively clear the mind.

Bear Love discovered the relaxing qualities of gongs at a particularly stressful time in his life, when he was working as a murder squad detective in London.

“The murder squad was a particularly challenging time for me, dealing with unsavoury clients and emotionally charged situations,” he said.

“Whilst engaged in the murder enquiry team, I met an amazing man called Roger who helped me change my perception of the world and helped me realise the awesome creative power of our minds.

“In 2001, I had begun playing the Aboriginal didgeridoo, and within a few more years I was playing gongs and the Native American flute in the context of something I came to call sound journeys or sound meditations.

“I felt I had found a way I could truly help people.”

Five years ago, Bear had a dream about playing a huge gong.

“I made some enquiries and discovered that a factory in Germany had the world’s largest custom production gong and so I made a visit.

“On arrival I found there a huge 2m diameter symphonic gong. The staff informed me that it had been in their basement for some 20 years and no one knew who had made it.”

Bear bought the instrument and explored different ways of playing it.

“Since then I have teamed up with a didgeridoo player and a Navajo flute player, and the three of us now tour together giving healing sound journeys.

“In the modern electronic world of compressed sound and MP3s, we are not accustomed to experiencing the gentle, full spectrum of sound, which comes from standing behind the world’s largest symphonic gong. It is literally beyond words - it vibrates inner organs, quietens the mind and transports us somewhere else, somewhere beautiful.”

Bear’s sound journey is taking place in the Trinity Rooms, Field Road, Stroud on Saturday at 7.30pm.

Tickets £10 and concessions £7 are available at Girish’s Indian vegetarian stall at Stroud Farmers Market or by calling Barry Mason (01285 760548).