Samul Nori (사물 놀이) is a genre of traditional Korean percussive music that literally means “the playing (nori 놀이) of four (사 sa) objects (물 mul)”. These “four objects” consist of the janggu (장구) – hourglass/slim-waist drum, buk (북) – barrel drum, jing (징) – large gong, and kkwaenggwari (꽹과리) – small gong.
Samul Nori’s history comes from Nong Ak (농악), or “farmers’ music”, where music, dance, and singing were performed in celebration of farm work. The four instruments of Samul Nori each represent a different element of nature: