First Drum Circle Experience

[Tokapelli]

I was told to show up an hour early to get to know everybody. This drum circle plays every thursday at the local hooka lounge. When I got to the hooka bar, i asked a waitress if anyone from the drum circle was there, and she said "theyre in the back but im not gonna let you go back there." After a while she came out and told me the lead drummer wanted me to go to the back for an audition. So its not really a normal drum circle obviously, more like a drum group i guess. This does come thru in the end of course, they sound really good together and have been playing together for almost a year now, so its understandable that they wouldnt want somebody coming in that cant keep a beat.
so i went to the back, nervous as hell with my little djembe, and he put me on the spot. He just told me to play what i feel, at this point there are about 7-8 people from the drum circle standing around sizing me up. I played a little beat that i just made up on the spot, basically just trying to show them that i could keep a steady rythym, and get really good sound quality. After a minute he stopped me, and said " Thats sounds really good, now just chill the hell out and play!" I hadnt even realized until then how tense i was, i wasnt even breathing!
Then he picked up his drum, and started playing a pretty cool rythhym. I listened very closely, came in slowly trying to play on the offbeat, and it worked out pretty good. He stopped and complimented me, telling me he really liked it, and then he said i really couldnt have added much more to what i was playing unless i wanted to do a roll. I responded, "yea, i dont want to over- roll it though." He threw his head back laughing, swinging his dreads, shook my hand and said "Youre in!" All of a sudden, after saying that, i felt excepted by everybody in the room, most of them shook my hand or gave me a pat on the back. I guess doing my homework here has really helped me out, lol.
It was a great jam, we played for about 2 - 2 1/2 hours and the hooka bar was packed. Lots of people dancing and having a good time, it was a great feeling. They hook up mics and amps and stuff, and it wasnt all djembes either. They started out with the lead djembe player playing a didgeridoo, and another guy playing what he called a hum-drum. Im not sure if thats the real name for it but it looked and kinda sounded like a steel drum, and sounded killer with the didgeridoo. Nobody else played while they did that, it kinda set the mood and got everybodys attention. They also had 3 big congas, a dun dun, and some little bongos, so there was good diversity but everything still blended together really well. Eventually i loosened up and showed them what i could really play, and they invited me and girlfriend (who played with us for the last part of the session) to come back next week. So ive changed my schedule at work and i think ill be playing with them every thursday. i saw a guy with a video camera there last week, ill have to ask him if he posted the video on youtube or anything , ill post a link if he did.

Anyway, i was a little worried after reading the recent thread here about drum circles, but it turned out to be a really great time, and im looking forward to jamming with them on a regular basis.

[bubudi]

that instrument that's similar to a steel drum, if i'm thinking of the same thing you saw, is called a hang drum (pronounced like 'hung').



hope you have lots of fun jamming with this group. it's different from most drum circles because they're playing a lot of quieter instruments, so everyone has to be careful not to overpower those instruments.

[e2c]

oh my... I wish i could afford a Hang drum ("hang" is a Swiss German dialect word that means "hand"), but they are so expensive, and in order to get one, you have to more or less be invited to Switzerland to meet the people who make them.

there is a very long waiting list, and of course the trip is quite costly.

Maybe someday...

[bubudi]

you could be lucky, a few of them have turned up in music stores and in the for sale ads. i had a go of one at a music store a few years ago... otherwise, it's hard to get the original ones new. not surprisingly, there are many copies floating around. it's fun to compose a song in your head and then drum the melody to it. we should create a new thread for the hang in the 'other instruments' section.

[freefeet]

oh my... I wish i could afford a Hang drum ("hang" is a Swiss German dialect word that means "hand"), but they are so expensive, and in order to get one, you have to more or less be invited to Switzerland to meet the people who make them.

there is a very long waiting list, and of course the trip is quite costly.

Maybe someday...

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.

[freefeet]

And just to put the thread back on course...

Tokapelli, it's really great to hear that you had a wonderful time at your first drum circle. When these things are good, they're really good. I've made a whole bunch of wonderful friends playing drum circles and look forward to making many more for the rest of my life. I hope it's the same for you too.

[EvanP]

Here's a "new" 2003 Panart hang drum on eBay for $3100. I came across a used set a couple days ago on ebay or Craigslist, but can't seem to find the listing now, so keep looking--they do turn up. According to this guy's listing, there is now a "no resale" contract on all new drums made by the company.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Panart-Hang-Aeolean-signed-3869-PanArt-case-/270703378045?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3f072dbe7d

[freefeet]

According to this guy's listing, there is now a "no resale" contract on all new drums made by the company.

I would check with Felix at Panart as to whether he will retune any hang bought second hand, he is refusing to do some already. It's not a lot of use once it goes out of tune if he won't retune it.

[mamadada]

oh my... I wish i could afford a Hang drum ("hang" is a Swiss German dialect word that means "hand"), but they are so expensive, and in order to get one, you have to more or less be invited to Switzerland to meet the people who make them.

there is a very long waiting list, and of course the trip is quite costly.

Maybe someday...

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.

Such a shame a really cool new instrument has been subjected to this incredibly short sighted outlook. I would have thought it would have been better to allow it to be more accessible - -there are many people out there who could do some really cool stuff if they could afford one!!! The sad thing is that there is no chance of waiting to get a second hand one for a saving - -shame on you Panarts, - - it's agood thing that some other good alternatives are now emerging! - - -Steve