The Harmony of Hangdrums

Hangdrum is a musical instrument which produces exquisiteand wide varieties of tuned sounds. It was handmade by Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer in Switzerland in the year 2001. They created them within a small workshop, and later introduced it in a fair in the year 2001.

The meaning of the word Hang means "hand" in the Bernese language. This instrument is known worldwide as hangdrum because of its resembles to steel drums, and popularity amongst hand drummers.

The look of hangdrum is pretty much similar to that of a flying saucer with two hemispheres of chemically strengthened steel joined together. Although the look resembles an object which people have already seen in the past, it took years of research and study on several musical instruments like drums, bells, Ghatam, etc to come up with this unique musical instrument.

Unlike other musical instruments, hangdrum is played with the hands. The instrument is either placed on the stand, or is rested on the lap of the artist. Artists usually prefer using a stand to place this instrument, when they want to stand and entertain the audience. The hand involvement makes the sound appear much softer and lighter in comparison to other musical instruments. Overall, around nine musical notes can be played with this instrument. Depending upon how the instrument is played, is depicts a musical sound which is pleasing on the ears.

For several years, Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer were the sole makers of this instrument. Hangdrum contains a large variety of harmonically tuned sound, and is fun and easy to play. Over time, this instrument hasseensignificant changesin terms of look and overall design. What sets Hangdrum apart from other musical instruments is that there is only one manufacturer of this instrument in the whole world, and surprisingly there are not more than 1000 hangdrums in circulation across the world.Because of the increasing demand and scare availability of hangdrum, the price of this instrument is not something which every pocket can afford. It can also be purchased online, but only after paying a big price. Also one needs to exercise caution while buying these costly instruments online.

With every passing year, there have been some alterations in the hangdrum thus making it look and sound more attractive. The popularity and demand of this product can't be questioned. These instruments are only delivered if they are handpicked from the workshop upon advance booking.

Source:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hang_(musical_instrument)