The Hang Drum!

[T.Underhill]

First off...I want one of these things so bad!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hang_drum

I found several videos on Youtube of people playing them and it's like a steel drum on steriods. It's sounds INCREDIBLE. My limited research shows that the demand for them is high, they're still only produced in Bern, Switzerland and they're quite expensive. Check out those vids! The Wiki article also has some good links at the bottom.

[GRUNTERSDAD]

DeathMetalConga has one of those bad boys.

[T.Underhill]

DeathMetalConga has one of those bad boys.


Get outta town. Where does he live again???

[jayp]

Ive wanted one of these foreveeeeeeeerrrrrrr and ive seen a pic DMC's im so jealous.
these things resonate like crazyyyyyyy almost sounds like an awesome synthesizer

DMC where ya at! Give us some more info! What is your hang tuned to?

[Deathmetalconga]

Yes indeed, Gruntersdad is correct, I am a Hangist in Boise, Idaho.

I got mine in January 2004, around $400 including the case, in a simpler time before the Hang was "discovered." They now go for $3,000 and more on eBay.

My Hang is in the Hijaz scale, key of D. The scale is very common in Middle Eastern, Arabic and Jewish music. Hijaz is a major scale, so it doesn't sound sad, but the intervals produce lots of tension so the scale is interesting to play.

The newer generation of Hangs looks cool, with a bronze finish, but they used to make 50different scales and now just make a few, mostly Asian pentatonic, which I find kind of bland. Hijaz D goes D-Eb-F#-G-A-Bb-C-D

See the link to my set below to see the Hang set up. Check out a song called Kosmosis at www.terrasonus.com to hear it in action. I am a member of the Yahoo Hang drum group to keep up to date on it.

It is very fun to play, but in April it spontaneously went out of tune (the A note went sharp, that just happens sometimes with steel drums and Hangs) and I had to send it back to Switzerland for retuning: $40 for the tuning and $200 shipping. Some people in the Yahoo group have discussed finding an American steel drum maker who could learn to tune Hangs domestically.

The Hang is amazing. It's related to the steel drum, but the enclosure and hole in the bottom creates the most enchanting presence and resonance. It has terrific presence and expression and is easy to play if you do any hand drumming. It's got more attitude than you can imagine, despite its sweet tone. It's a new instrument, first marketed in 2000 after the makers of steel drums kept getting requests from hand drummers to make something convex and playable by hand. "Hang" means "hand" in Swiss.

The makers are a bit eccentric and won't license out production or even distribution. You now have to go to Switzerland to pick one up, or pay someone to get you one. They are still made one at a time, just a few hundred a year, and there's no way supply can keep up with demand. They are very special instruments to cherish for a lifetime.

[Mediocrefunkybeat]

I found a video on Youtube of a guy playing a Hang. I brought my Dad in. We were both mesmerised and we both instantly wanted one each. They are STUNNING.

[T.Underhill]

Yes, I read about an American steel drum company polling people about buying one if they produced them. Email them!
http://www.pantheonsteel.com/default2.asp?action=article&ID=3

[darknessdude16]

Simply amazing! I went into town the other day and there was a guy playing one of these in the street, he had ginger dreadlocks and was wearing a suit, it caught my eye instantly :) But the sound that was coming from the one he had was amazing, it was so quiet but deep, we walked past him a few time but both time it sounded amazing, just my 2 cents x

[Ozzy Biz]

I just looked up some youtube videos and all I can think of is wow. When earlier posts talked about a sweet tone, I had no idea it was to this extent. Incredibly cool. I want one.

[TenPastTen]

HO-LY HELL! That is one of the coolest things I've seen. I saw several months ago on DeathMetalConga's Ironwood link that someone referenced his hangdrum, but I didn't think anything of it at the time. Well thanks for this thread, because my horizons have been broadened once again. Amazing. Music may actually be the only true boundless frontier.

[crazyhorse]

There's a few steel drum guys out there that could probably tune it... I'd check with Dr. Meister from the Steely Pan Band at Appalachian State University. They actually work with a few people keeping the pans up to date and are one of the best bands around for steel drum stuff. A lot of what they do is authentic music along with typical modern pan tunes. At one point they actually made their own pans and biscuit tins.

[Deathmetalconga]

Yes, I read about an American steel drum company polling people about buying one if they produced them. Email them!
http://www.pantheonsteel.com/default2.asp?action=article&ID=3

Market forces are creating opportunities for other instrument makers. A more recent knock-off of the Hang is the Caisa (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvQSfnHTj2o) , more crudely made and lacking the resonance, but a nice instrument nonetheless. I expect others to follow and I wish Pantheon Steel luck. I doubt anyone will be able to create something that replicates the unusual resonance of the Hang, but they may create something just as magical but different.

I would like nothing more than to see the the Hangmakers license out their product to skilled steel drum craftsmen, but they have little interest in growing their business and are content to produce just a few hundred a year. I'm just glad I got mine before the rush.

Despite the feel-good New Age vibe of the Hang, there is a surprising amount of snobbery in the Hang community. Many people on the Yahoo discussion group don't want to see the Hang produced in large quantites and they want to see it kept as an elite instrument - they speak with horror at the concept of Hangs, however well-made, appearing at a Guitar Center. They're against the instant gratification of our society and think there are some things that should be difficult to get. I believe the Hang is a wonderful, healing musical instrument that should be made in larger quantities and be available to all who want one and I think it would be great if they appeared in Guitar Center (of course, made to the same high quality standards) for under $500.

[reddrummer90]

HOLY !@##$
ive heard that sound before and always wanted whatever made it,
that just looks like fun on crack! dammit $3000?!

[ermghoti]

First off...I want one of these things so bad!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hang_drum

I found several videos on Youtube of people playing them and it's like a steel drum on steriods. It's sounds INCREDIBLE. My limited research shows that the demand for them is high, they're still only produced in Bern, Switzerland and they're quite expensive. Check out those vids! The Wiki article also has some good links at the bottom.

Best. Avatar. Ever. Fo' rillz.

[Spencer_159]

o my these things are hella dope!

[sethbergs]

Hang is awesome, but to expensive and rare. try makeing a propane hang drum!! it only took me a few hours one weekend, just buy an empty tank, and use the template from dennis havlena TEMPLATE (http://www.ehhs.cmich.edu/~dhavlena/for-webpage-lp-hang.htm) there are 2 youtube videos of the propane drum in action. here are some pics
http://img401.imageshack.us/img401/757/drum4at1.jpg
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/4899/drum1lk9.jpg
http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/4075/drum3nl3.jpg

[Garvin]

Wow... I want one. I'm contacting an artist I know who works with metal to make me one. Awesome. Great thread, thank you.

[Deathmetalconga]

Hang is awesome, but to expensive and rare. try makeing a propane hang drum!! it only took me a few hours one weekend, just buy an empty tank, and use the template from dennis havlena

Now THAT is cool! I have the tools to make something like that. While it probably doesn't sound much like a Hang, I'm sure it sounds great anyway and you get nice drum for much less.

[dhavlena]

HI - New here. Just a few additional words here about an invention of
mine - the propane-tank "hang drum" that sethbergs mentioned above.. It does sound different than a "real" hang drum (as you mihgt expect) but has a nice pleasing tone and it's hard to imagine a real Swiss-made hang drum being any more fun to play. Either one allows incredibly inventive noodling.

This is a link to my video showing the thing being played.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=bpMS15kJyOY

Takes less than a day to build & all that's needed is an
empty (never been used) 20 lb propane tank, a drill with
1/16" bits, and a saber-saw to make.

Below is the template I drew up so others could duplicate the beast.
Complete building info can be found on my at this URL:
http://www.ehhs.cmich.edu/~dhavlena/for-webpage-lp-hang.htm

Please let me know if you build one - they're a blast!
Dennis H - northern Michigan
http://www.ehhs.cmich.edu/~dhavlena/lp-hang-template.jpg

[T.Underhill]

Just received this email from Kyle Cox at Pantheon Steel:


Update #1

We have made encouraging progress in the past few weeks and are
learning
more and more each day. I only wish we could devote 100% of our time
to
this project, but as you may know we are manufacturers of traditional
steel
pan instruments as well. It¹s a tremendous undertaking to keep
production
going on one end and develop a completely different product on the
other.

We are manufacturing our hand pans in a different manner than the
originators and are confident the end product will be very similar in
timbre. It may be slightly different, but equally as pleasing. Issues
like
coating type and color, scales to be offered, binding material,
accessories
etc. have yet to be determined.

We are still calculating the production costs of our new instrument and
therefore do not yet have a retail price to release. As we have said
in the
past, ours will be priced lower than PANArt. Pricing info may be
withheld
until the actual release date which is tentatively scheduled for early
08...
Hopefully within the first fiscal quarter. Please don¹t be upset if
that
doesn¹t happen. We won¹t release our instrument until we feel it¹s
ready.
We won¹t sacrifice quality just to hit a deadline.

All orders will be taken on our website. When the time comes you will
be
able to log onto the Œhand pan¹ part of our website to pick your pan
(scale,
accessories...) and then place a down payment via credit card. When
your
name comes up on the list and your instrument is ready to ship we will
contact you to collect the balance. At that point you will be able to
pay
by certified check, money order, wire transfer and, of course, credit
card.
When payment is secured your new pan will be on its way to you!

We will not give exact delivery dates. Given the labor intensive
nature of
creating these instruments it is hard to gauge the time required for
each
instrument. At best we will give approximated time frames. We, of
course,
will appreciate your patience while waiting for your instrument to
arrive.

This is the first update we have posted on our progress. Things are
looking/sounding good and we are very excited about entering the world
of
hand played steel instruments! More info to come....

--
Sincerely,
Kyle Cox
Pantheon Steel
http://pantheonsteel.com
1-888-KYLECOX

ps: a video/sound file or both will be posted on our website and
possibly
youtube.com when available.

[Deathmetalconga]

One was on eBay recently with a But It Now price of $8,000! That's almost 20 times what I paid for mine four years ago.

[Soulset]

So i plan to make the "Hank Drum", and i was woundering, does the brand of propain tank matter? If so what kind of brand did everyone use? just a thought, i doubt it will vary much, but it could be quite a pain to make it only to find that it doesn;t sound liek what you want becuase the tank was crafted diffrently >.<

Then agian i don;t know much about propain tanks, or really drum mechanics at all x]]

thanks in advanced!