The hang drum. If you haven't encountered the spacey melodic sound of the hang drum on you-tube or google video by now, you might be in for a delightful surprise. Its this half bongo, half pan drum made by a couple artists in switzerland who call themselves 'PANart'. The word hang, (pronounced hong) apparently is a Bernese-German word for 'hand'. The 'drum' is notoriously hard to aquire, with the instrument-makers personally making each one themselves in their small workshop in Berne. There is a long waiting list involved and currently, according to the wiki, the production of further drums is temporarily on hold, which is only driving the price of used hang's up and up. Below I've thrown up my top five hang videos for your listening and viewing pleasure. Enjoy.
1. Manu Delago
Be sure to check out the rest of Manu's videos and swing by his site, really one of the top players I've seen online.
2. Kind of shitty video quality here but a great explanation of how the instrument works and some of the vocabulary.
3. Not the best playing in the world, in fact kind of bad, but I added it simply because three hippies huddled around a hang drum is funny to me for some reason. Less is more.
4. Davide Swarup
Definitely one of my favorites by far. He has a c.d. out which I haven't had the chance to hear, but the look on the faces of
passer-bys when he's street performing says everything about his skills.
5. Last but not least, a great setting for a hang session and a great jam to boot.
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