Muakgi is a term that refers to the wide range of musical instruments used in a shamanic ritual.

Music accompanies almost all shamanic rituals, performed on janggu (hourglass drum), bara (small cymbals), piri (reed flute), daegeum (large bamboo flute, also called jeotdae), haegeum (two-stringed zither), kkwaenggwari (small gong), buk (small drum), seolsoe (bowl-shaped gong) and other instruments.

In the northern parts of Gyeonggi Province, janggu, jing (gong), bara, piri, haegeum and daegeum are played, while in the province’s southern parts and in Chungcheong and Jeolla provinces, janggu, jing, kkwaenggwari, piri, haegeum and daegeum are used. In Hamgyeong and Pyeongan provinces, janggu, jing and bara are mostly featured, and sometimes also kkwaenggwari, which is a similar to the shamanic music of Hwanghae Province.

On Jeju Island, a wide range of percussion instruments are used, including janggu, buk, daeyeong (gong), and seolsoe, an important percussion instrument in Jeju shamanic music, looks like a small brass bowl turned upside down on a basket and is beaten with two metal sticks.

The cymbals-like instrument bara, also called jegeum, is generally used to keep time in shamanic music, and featured as a main instrument in ritual segments that are related to Buddhism. Made of brass, they are between 20 and 30 centimeters in diameter, slightly smaller than the ones used in Buddhist temples. Bara is considered one of the most important shamanic instruments, second only to janggu, and is either passed down from the spirit parent to the spirit child, or purchased.