The Kong Vong is a tuned gong instrument with sixteen cymbal-like metal gongs that are arranged in a circle around the percussionist and played using a pair of mallets. The gongs are in order of size with the smallest, highest-pitched on the player’s far right and the largest, lowest pitched on the far left and the others in order between.
Gongs range in size from three inches in diameter for the smallest to nine inches for the largest. The center of each gong is raised into the "doh" or nipple. The underside of the doh is used to tune each gong to its precise tone by melting into it a small amount of lead and then a final amount of beeswax. The player may remelt this combination to tune the instrument over time. The kong vong in a pin peat orchestra is tuned against the roneat.
The frame of the instrument is made from bamboo that has been heated and bent into the traditional circular shape with a gap in the circle where the player sits or kneels. At the two ends of the frame are ornamental carved wooden pieces. Each of the sixteen gongs have four holes along the perimeter that are used to suspend the gong from the frame using hide or gut strips. The gongs are struck with mallets that have disc- or cylinder-shaped "heads" traditionally made of water buffalo or elephant hide. For indoor concerts, the heads are covered with a soft cloth, producing a muted tone. For outdoor playing, the mallet heads are hard, producing a sharper, louder tone.
There are two sizes of kong vong. The kong vong thom is the larger; the kong vong toch is the smaller.