How do we call our RAV drums? Some history of musical scales behind the scene

Marmara, Golden Arcadia, Golden Gate, Humayun… why do the RAV drum names sound like toponyms from The Lord of the Rings? But while Frodo and his precious are busy trying to reach Mordor, let’s reveal the truth about the RAV drum names.

RAV Vasts and RAV Pans – why do they even have the names?

Both RAV Vast tongue drum and RAV Pan handpan are non-chromatic instruments which means they are limited in the number of notes they can produce. If you already know something about the RAV drums or have ever seen someone playing the glockenspiel, you’ll get the idea. Each tongue/dimple produces its specific sound as it’s tuned with a particular note – just like the keys of the glockenspiel.

Unlike the piano where you can find all the notes from C to B, the tongue drum and handpan crafters pick only some particular notes. Just like colors, some notes go better together than others (you will hardly combine blue, red, green and yellow altogether). What is handpan music? It’s the progression of notes created by musicians tapping different tongues/dimples. The notes in the RAV Vasts and RAV Pans are chosen to form a harmonious progression. This combination of notes is called a scale (or a tongue drum/handpan key). The RAV Vast drums are available in 18 different scales and the RAV Pans – in 5 (and more to come).

How are the names for the scales picked up?

Here’s some history of musical scales for you. Most musical scales we know today are based on Greek musical tradition and are considered to be the gold standard of classical music. Some of the tongue drum/handpan scale names migrated from classic musical theory and represent the most popular scales like the D Major or Celtic Minor, but what about other funny names like In Sen or Humayun?

Although handpan and tongue drum appeared only in the early 2000s and may seem to be contemporary instruments, they often are mistakenly believed to be tribal instruments that were created by our ancestors centuries ago. Thanks to the steel drums’ original sound, they can easily adapt to music styles from all over the world. Thus, the names of the RAV drums are actually the names of the scales from various musical traditions.

The In Sen RAV Vast is the recreation of the Insen scale that was used in traditional Japanese shamisen music. The Hijaz RAV Pan and the Humayun RAV Vast are both named after Middle-Eastern maqams used in Iran and Azerbaijan musical tradition. The Pygmy scales are based on the musical melodies of pygmy tribes in Africa.

RAV drum scale map

Many RAV drums are named after some geographic places. Take a look at the A Marmara RAV Vast – it got its name after the Sea of Marmara as the RAV drum’s note progression is based on the songs and melodies that are typical for this region. The C Golden Gate (attention: it has no connection with the famous bridge in San-Francisco) is called for the only eastern gate of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

Most of these authentic scales have similarities to “classic” scales we are used to (like natural minor or Mixolydian scale for ex.), but we came up with the RAV’s original remake considering the specific parameters of the RAV drums to provide you the most harmonious sound.

This interpretation of the scales and note intervals is our real know-how and that’s what makes the sound of the RAV drums so special!

In the end…

If you’d like to find some more detailed info about each scale and its origins, you can easily check it out on the drum’s page in our online store along with the drums available for sale. You can also find some tongue drum/handpan lessons that will help you to navigate in this abundance of different scales and buy the one that suits you the best (a RAV Pan or the handpan cheap and high-quality alternative – the RAV Vast tongue drum).

What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. If you just enjoy the sound of these magical instruments, simply jump into testing their sound on the RAV Virtual Player and get a perfect time with all the variety of the RAV drums voices!