RAV Q&A

Steel Drum Comparison

    

Description	Tank drum	Others steel tongue drum	Handpan	RAV Vast drum
Overtones on one tongue/membrane	2	3-4	4	3-7
Sustain	up to 12sec	6-12 sec	5-8 sec	up to 25 sec
Steel shell thickness (mm)	3	1.5-2	1-1.2	1.5-2
Sound clarity	many unbalanced overtones	some unbalanced overtones	no unbalanced overtones	no unbalanced overtones
The need for additional to tune up	no	no	once a year/ in two years	no
Weight (kg)	from 2	from 2	4,8	5,9
Price (USD)	from 200	300-800	from 2000	from 730

Today the market possibilities for buying a steel tongue drum are endless.With the help of our handy chart you can compare most popular categories of steel drums and RAV Vast.

RAV Vast is an innovative steel tongue drum with an inimitable sound no other similar instrument can compare with.

But at the same time RAV is a very easy instrument to play, moreover you can play percussion, chords and melody simultaneously.
In normal steel drums each tongue or membrane includes up to 4 overtones apart from the main note, while RAV tongues can emit up to 7 overtones. Moreover, each of the overtones can be elicited separately if you use special playing techniques on the tongues, like flageolets. 

This feature makes you feel as if RAV creates the wall of sound around you, this cannot be repeated with any other steel drum.



Thicker steel gives more unbalanced overtones. Alternatively, the thinner steel is, the less resonance it emits, and you get a more fundamental tone. Subsequently, cheaper instruments like tank drums give dirtier sound than intricately tuned handpans. 

Speaking of RAV, the thickness of steel may vary as in other steel drums, but due to specific inner construction RAV tongues produce clean rich balanced sound.



Sustain is a period of time during which a note sounds before it becomes inaudible. Amazingly long sustain is a special feature of RAV drums, no other similar instrument can show such a thick and absorbing sound. Due to the unusual length the sound resonance is far beyond everything you can imagine. 

RAV's not empty inside unlike tank drums or other tongue drums, so the sound each tongue produce is not only extremely long, but also as very clean without any unbalanced overtones. 



RAV is an intuitive instrument; this means playing it does not require any special training before you start playing. Improvisation is an important part of a union with your musical instrument. With RAV you may do it easily. 

Playing RAV will give you a possibility for personal fulfillment because every time you can create a new melody because of a large number of notes. 

You can start composing from the first touch, and if you want to master we offer many free tutorials on our YouTube channel and Facebook page. 

RAV is a synonym to endless development, so you will never be bored with it. As you grow musically, it will grow with you because there is a huge amount of sound producing techniques and you will always have something new to learn in terms of playing and probably even invent. 

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