One guide for all the steel drums/handpans: how to choose the instrument

Now all you need is to decide which one you want to and…but hold on. There’s a great variety of instruments related to handpan. Which one should I choose?

If you get confused which one to get, move forward to our short guide on choosing the right musical instrument for you.

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Where the whole story begins

Before you get to pros and cons for different models, you’d might like to refer to the origins. So let us add a little bit of history for you here.

It all started with the Hang actually. First handpan named Hang was designed by Felix Rohner and Sabrina Schärer in 2000. The instrument instantly became popular over the years and there was a good reason for that. This “spacedrum” as it was called for its UFO-shape, produced hypnotizing extraterrestrial soft sounds reminding more a harp than a drum itself.

 However, due to the cost, long and complex production and the need to wait in a long queue, people began searching for alternatives. The original Hangs were also taken out of production since 2013. All this created a huge avalanche of fans who were looking for the options. And and this way appeared a great variety of handpan-alike steel drums.  The crucial point was to create an instrument with the same great sound, but that would be more affordable to get (and it refers to a more affordable price too).

Many replicas and variations appeared. The handpan instruments evolved. More shapes, more tones of sound. So today when searching for a steel pan instrument for sale, you can see many instruments, also named as tank drums or metal tongue drums. They quickly became very popular due to its ease to get and simple playing technique.  The sound is born when player strucks the tuned steel tongue, normally with a hand but the drumsticks can also be used. The technology is the same used in wooden tongue drums our ancestors played from the ancient times (like Samoan Pate drum or Aztec Teponaztli).

Now metal tongue drums are presented at the market in various shapes and designs but the construction is usually the same – a round metal drum with softly sounding tongues.

Do they really sound as good as Hang does?

The answer to this question can be a little bit subjective, but it certainly depends on the particular instrument. Comparing to their bigger brothers – handpans, tank drums and major part of metal tongue drums usually have limited music capacities. Technical features determine the quality of instrument. In other words, whether the melody you get while playing, is good enough or not.

If you are going to buy a steel tongue drum, pay a close attention to the following aspects:

·         The size. You can’t expect a palm-sized instrument to have the same capacities as a normal-sized drum. For example, the size of the smallest RAV Vast is 20 inches (51 cm). The bigger body creates a greater resonance. That sounds logical.

·         The thickness of the shell. The thinner it is, the better the sound is. Quality instruments always have a shell not thicker than 1,5-2mm and that’s what makes the sound so clean. Pay your attention to the material too. The best instruments like RAV Vast are made out of a special steel that provides a crystal-clear sound.

·         Number of overtones on one tongue/membrane. The more balanced overtones produced – the richer the sound is. Opt for the instruments with a greater number of balanced overtones created by one tongue, like RAV which has 3-7 overtones for each tongue.

How can you use your metal tongue drum (and do you really need to purchase it)

While surfing online and looking for a steel tongue drum for sale you might get confused by all this info and the good choice of instruments. How to choose the right one, and, what is more important, do I really need it or it’s just gonna be another coffee table kind of things?

The good thing around metal tongue drum is that it can really become an essential part of your life making it better (and you’ll feel it).

Make playing a part of your daily ritual. It’s a good excuse to stay along with yourself and clear your mind of all the mental rubbish you get through the days. While playing you can easily feel like the background noise of thoughts dissolves in the soft sounds of the drum. Seems to be a good alternative to meaningless hanging on with your cell phone, right?  

Steel tongue drum is a good choice for those who want to play a music instrument but don’t want to spend hours learning. Maybe you once dreamed about playing piano or guitar? But these dreams have never come true when you imagined how many hours (and sweat) you should spend studying even the easiest melody. Metal tongue drum does not require that. You can start playing right after a delivery guy brings the parcel and you unbox it. The construction of the metal drum allows you to play just intuitively. If you opt for a completely harmonized instrument like RAV metal tongue drum, you get a beautiful melody without even knowing the notes or special techniques.

Metal tongue drum is also one of a little umber of instruments that is totally kids friendly. And it’s a great way to spend time together with your kids experimenting and composing melodies. Children play music intuitively. It means they rely on their natural and unconscious sense of music and harmony. And RAV drum is just perfect for that purpose. So don’t be surprised if at the end it can happen that your kid will be better than you!

So you get sure now, that a steel tongue drum is what you want to buy, now it’s only about to choose. No matter which one you choose, a handpan or a steel tongue pan, keep in mind the points listed before while choosing the instrument.

RAV provides both options – a handpan styles Rav Pan and a metal tongue RAV Vast. If you are a beginner who is just planning to buy first steel drum instrument, RAV Vast will be a great option for you. The thin shell and a patented inner construction guarantee the greatest sound, while the unique design is a proof of the brand quality. Search around catalog to choose the most appropriate version of a metal tongue drum for you.