Shinier Etherwave knobs

Thanks for that info, Peter!

It wont be a typewriter! - Joe Zawinul demonstrated in one of his later albums how you could make a mega-wonderful synth play like a typewriter! (I usually love everything Joe did, but that was sad!)

But a new propane-tank based Hang/k looks simple (and cheap) enough to knock together - and yes, having two, each differently tuned, with a sort of double-bongo mounting so one could have them straddled over your lap - A nice summer project to complete before next years WOMAD festival.

Fred.

I had the good fortune of hearing and watching a duo at two Edinburgh Fesitvals ago playing hang (drums).
The sound they made was really lovely and the pair managed to meld beats and melodies together for a very pleasing and mesmerising sound.
After their street performance I asked if I could have a wee shot at playing one and was struck at how much of a hit is needed to make the instrument ring. One of the guys had his knuckles wrapped in cloth to, as he put it, make it less damaging on the hands.
Coalport could probably enlighten me/us here on this point.
Never-the-less, lovely sounding things.

Generally for me, the wind instruments are more difficult to get a grasp of than stringed instruments but that's a generality. I play the fiddle but converting to the mandolin was difficult because of the twanging motion instead of the sliding bowing motion. I've got it now but still much prefer the fiddle.

The digeridoo took a bit of perseverance and the circular breathing took a while but once I got it really quite liked playing the dige for extended periods-after a while and a groove was struck it became very relaxing and I'm going to stop short of making reference to anything trance like.

On the circular breathing thing-once you can do it after a while it becomes kind of natural and in the same way that a tango dancer always walks with the grace and elegance which the walking movement needed to dance gives them, then the circular breathing thing was always there...even in the deep end of the swimming pool...

Roy

"Get a NEW propane tank that has never had propane in it. Do not try to recycle an old tank because propane residue is explosive and that could be dangerous." - Coalport

Having worked designing safety critical applications for explosive atmospheres (including propane) I wholeheartedly agree! There is one video on U-Tube which makes my blood run cold - The guy takes an old propane tank, vents it briefly, then sets to work on it with an angle grinder! - It then goes through processes including roasting it over a gas hob!

He was just lucky, despite his stupidity.. If we are dished out with a luck allocation (no - I dont believe that we are! -) then he just wasted one of his lives!

Fred.

"One of the guys had his knuckles wrapped in cloth to, as he put it, make it less damaging on the hands." - Roy

Whacking anything is risky - I was unable to play the Djembi for a few weeks (my instructor made me sit and watch the lessons because he said I could do myself permanent damage) because, in my attempts to get ringing near the rim, I had wacked the rim too often..

Then I bought a Djembi at a drumming camp, which one master (not Kanyinda) claimed was cursed or posessed because my right hand came up with a rash, which developed into severe excema on my palm which I still suffer from today (almost 20 years now). It wasnt demons or curses to blame, when Kanyinda examined it he found that the animals hairs had not been completely removed, some had been shaved and presumably penetrated my skin causing a reaction.

RoyP: After their street performance I asked if I could have a wee shot at playing one and was struck at how much of a hit is needed to make the instrument ring. One of the guys had his knuckles wrapped in cloth to, as he put it, make it less damaging on the hands.

Coalport could probably enlighten me/us here on this point.

AMPLIFY, AMPLIFY, AMPLIFY!

As an electronic musician I am very big on turning acoustic instruments into electroacoustic instruments. By simply amplifying the sound you can bring out so much more of the subtlety of timbre and tone, and you don't have to hit your instrument so hard. Ditto for plucking, bowing, blowing etc. etc.

Play gently and let technology work for you.

Amplification is often difficult or impossible for street musicians. They have a very tough row to hoe.

The propane tank hang drum puts out plenty of sound for a small room or studio. In a noisy street, or on a large stage, you would have to play "fortissimo" all the time in order to be heard un-amplified, but you would have the same problem with a hang drum which puts out roughly the same decibel level.