The Original Propane Tank Hank Drum - by Dennis Havlena

This particular instrument is the world's first hank-drum.
The propane-tank hank drum is an invention of mine & the results of lots of experimentation. Although it certainly is not a hang drum, it's scale, pitch & manner of playing using one's hands is similar to a hang drum. Both instruments encourage the same musical inventiveness. The bungee cord reduces the tank's ample ring. This video is just to document the steps in my experimentation & like my other videos, is not intended to be slick entertainment. As in my 2 previous hank drum related videos, the scale here is a favorite - D minor pentatonic (low to high):
Low D (ding); A; C; D; F; G; A; C
The thing is setup just like a Swiss
Hang Drum but the Low D note (ding) is
not central, but is positioned between
the two highest notes (the only way I
could get it to work). Nonetheless, it's
as easy to hit as if it were a central
ding. Building information & a to-scale
template can be found on my webpage at:
http://DennisHavlena.com
Building one is an easy weekend project.

GREAT NEWS: although a real, Swiss-made hang drum is extremely difficult to obtain these days, Pantheon Steel, a maker of beautiful steel drums ("steel pans") is just starting to sell their version of the Hang drum called the HALO hand-pan. See halo.pantheonsteel.com for details.
They have a demo video & the Halo sounds beautiful!

Later note (5-5-09): also see this youtube video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jnuotn...

LATER NOTE: 10-30-07 - I just uploaded another video of this instrument in
action - - on YouTube at:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=6LYgxb5J9SI

• Category

  • Music

• License

  • Standard YouTube License