Hang Drum

[Tokapelli]

anybody heard anything about the Hang Drum? a guy at the drum circle ive been going to has 2 of them, they start out the drum circle with just him playing his hang drums and the lead drum facilitator playing a didgeridoo, its a good break from the djembe and gets everybody in a nice chilled out mood.

Anyway the drum is bad ass, i want one really bad but they are crazy expensive and rare, and he has 2! im pretty jealous. Its a metal drum in the shape of a saucer with all these little indentations around it and a bump on top, the bump makes like a gong noise and all the little indentations make some pretty cool higher pitched sounds. The real thing costs anywhere from $10,000-15,000, that is pretty insane and i dont think i could ever justify spending that much on a drum, but they sound so cool. does anybody know of any alternitives? If you dont know what im talking about you should deffinitely check it out on youtube its a pretty amazing instrument.

[Michel]

Hi
See the thread called 'my first drum circle experience' in the social section. There is some discussion about hang-drums. I have one myself, me lucky bastard.....

[bubudi]

actually, i think this is a more appropriate place for it. possibly someone can move/copy the posts over from the other thread.

[the kid]

Does anybody find the ham drum annoying. An old gate on a windy day makes as good music.

[freefeet]

The real thing costs anywhere from $10,000-15,000, that is pretty insane and i dont think i could ever justify spending that much on a drum, but they sound so cool. does anybody know of any alternitives?

As i posted on the other thread...

I have quite a few hang playing friends as i set up the first Hang festival's (HangoutUK) website a few years ago, and Felix who owns Panart is really pissing a lot of people off. He dictates how it's played, that it can't be played with other instruments, that you can only resell it with his permission, and trying to get the things retuned is then a serious problem if you didn't buy the hang directly from him. Essentially, i always thought Felix's head was too far up his own anus from the start but now every hang player i know agrees with me on that.

There are other companies making hang type instruments now (commonly called 'handpans' these days) as Felix won't let anyone else call it a hang cause that's what he named his.

Bellart... http://www.bellart.es/bells.html

Pantheon Steel... http://www.pantheonsteel.com/Home.aspx

Spacedrum... http://spacedrum.fr/modeles.php?id_langue=2

Caisa... http://www.caisa-music.com/seite2.html

Bali Steel... http://www.balisteelpan.com/

For more info on handpans in general... http://www.handpan.org/forum/index.php A nice bunch of people.

[Michel]

Does anybody find the ham drum annoying. An old gate on a windy day makes as good music.

Actually I think you're right Kid, but I'm not going to sell mine. It's my pension.....

[e2c]

and like anything else, the way it sounds is largely dependent on the person who's playing it.

I have trouble listening to regular steel drums (like they play in Trinidad) myself, but hey - that's just personal taste. There are some really incredible musicians over there! (I think i'd like the steel drums better if the solo drums were lower-pitched.)

And I see what you guys mean about the Hang - and similar drums - but I'd like one all the same. (Maybe a Pantheon Steel model, someday...)

freefeet, thanks muchly for clarifying on the situation with Switzerland. It sounds completely insane, and not in a good way.

[Tokapelli]

yea thats pretty insane freefeet, i think its a pretty amazing instrument, and if i invented an amazing instrument i would want to make it available to everybody for as cheap as possible, but i guess people have other priorities. Its really a shame that something so sacred and beautiful like music can be corrupted by greed.

[FreekAce]

yea thats pretty insane freefeet, i think its a pretty amazing instrument, and if i invented an amazing instrument i would want to make it available to everybody for as cheap as possible, but i guess people have other priorities. Its really a shame that something so sacred and beautiful like music can be corrupted by greed.

the drums are not mass produced though. each and everyone (like a djembe) is unique and takes time and skill to make. dont think its all about greed but also about supply and demand. these are also works of art, not just instruments. that said the prices are insane and i'd be more interested in one of the alternatives, which because of the numbers they are created in are a lot more attractive price wise.

[e2c]

the alternatives (the really good ones, that is) are also made in very small production runs and are fairly expensive... all the hand-hammering (etc.) takes time.

[Djembe-nerd]

I recently accuired this SPB Hang (Made in St Petersburg, Russia) and this is the first video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlNx2HKJi58

[michi]

Sweet! And congratulations

Michi.

[e2c]

did you go to Russia to buy it?

[Trog]

Very nice.

[Djembe-nerd]

Thanks Trog and Michi

did you go to Russia to buy it?

No. but a guy from UK went in March to Russia and got it and he had to sell for some reasons. I bought it from him.