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In this topic I want to talk about your experiences and questions about adjustung the Gu with the legs (or the hand) while you are playing.

This is a topic that is seldom discussed. Therefore I would like to hear the experiences of other Hang players. Also if you have questiones because this is new for you, this is the right topic.

First and foremost this topic is for players of the second generation or the Integral Hang. It is also usefull for the players of an instrument of 2005 (called the "Low Hang") with a Ding in F, E or Eb. What is said in the following doesn't apply for first generation Hanghang with a Ding in G or A.

As an introduction I will give some explanations what is meant with "adjusting the Gu". The Hang makers wrote in their Hang booklet (page 20):


The bass tone is called "Helmholtz Resonance". In the Hang Lexicon I explained this phenomenon and how it works with the Hang as follows:


If this is new for you and you want to try it out, the best way is to hold the Hang vertically and cover the Gu with one hand to adjust the Helmholtz resonance. The following pictures give you a demonstration how it can be done:





Since I understood the Helmholtz Resonance of the Hang, I noticed how important it is for the sound of the Hang to bring it in resonance with the Ding. Without this resonance the deep fundamental heart of the Hang sound is missing.

And now I'm interested to hear your experiences or questions.

Ix

Hallo Ix,
ich hoffe,dank online Uebersetzer und deinen Fotos, genug verstanden zu haben.
Wenn du magst, würde es mich trotzdem freuen, wenn Du deinen Beitrag übersetzen könntest.
Liebe Grüsse,
gitta

Hey, this is the English section

Hi,

yes, your are right.
Gitta only ask Ixkeys if he can translate in german what he wrote and post it in the german part of the forum. She cant speak much englisch and so she cant ask in englisch.

I hope this help. It was not important for the discussion.

Greetings
Frank

Thanks Frank
And if there is a chance of getting some info in English on the "Hang cleaning set" then there are perhaps plenty of English speakers who would be interested to have some info

Hi,

yes, i can open a englisch topic with the information about what we now. Coming soon.

Greetings
Frank

Thanks!

Ich würde mich auch sehr freuen, obwohl ich an meinem englisch arbeite

This might be very interesting for the german part of the forum I want to learn more about playing the Gu.

I thought about posting the same topic in the German sub-forum. But I decided not to do it. The reason is, that we are a little community and that I want to have the conversation about this topic here and not divided in English and German. If I would post it in the German sub-forum too, all the German speakers would discuss it in German there although the majority is able to do it in English. Therefor I want to challenge all German speakers to read and write here in English. I for myself have the experience that writing and reading in Englisch forums has raised my English skills in the last two years very much. A great helping tool is the online dictionary Leo: http://dict.leo.org/ende?lang=de&lp=ende&search=

And now back to the topic...

Ix

About the GU....during my last visit to the Hanghaus, i discuss with Felix about the fact i play with my IH on a post ( yamaha ss650 for drum ) and Felix says me it's important or just interesting to place a little tube in the GU ( adjusting the size, the length and the length of penetration in the Hang ) to amplified a little bit the Ding and modified the quality of the sound of the Ding.
I use different tube at this moment but not find a big difference of sound.
I ask PANArt to give me the measurement of the original DUM in wood but no mail answer at this moment.
I don't play regulary with the Hang on vertical but the placement of the hand in the GU is a little bit like the hand in a trombone or trumpet.

The Dum is not the adequate tool to adjust the Gu to D2. It lowers the bass tone a fifth. So forget the Dum with the second generation or the IH.

I think the IH's and the second generation's place is not on a stand but on the lap. They need the soft touch of the thighs and the adjustment of their angle.

The vertical position is in my experience the best way to detect the right resonance. If you found it in this position it is easier to find it with the legs.

Ix

Is there nobody who have any experience with adjusting the Gu? Or any questions whatabout Ixkeys is writing?

Ix

Hi,

before you explained me this, i wondered a lot of time, that my Hang sound sometimes very full and at other times the sound is more thin. It was a result, how i hold my hang while playing.
If i sit on the ground floor in a "tailor seat" i cant adjust the Gu with my legs. So in this position it was for me not possible to make this deep tones with the heel of my hand on the Ding side.
I wonder, that this sometimes work and other times not.
The best sound on my second generation Hang i have, if i sit on a chair and put my Hang on my lap.
So i can find out the best angle for my legs.
I think this has an big affect on the Ding sound, but also on the whole sound of the Hang.
That means, that you cant reach the full sound quality of the second generation and Integral Hang
if you use a stand for playing. On a stand the Gu is totally free.
So the body is a part of the instrument.
Is it on the first generation Hang equal how the player hold the Hang on the lap?

To know and understand that, was for me and very enlightening.

Greetings
Frank

I held my first generation Hang with F Ding with a wide angle of the legs, because with unobstructed Gu the Helmholtz resonance is F2. In the moment when I have only one left and a fifth part right leg, this is impossible so I cannot hold it adequately. Playing it when sitting on the floor it sounds thin. So I'm waiting for the next weeks when I finally get prothesis so I can hold my hanghang adequately again. I really miss this.

By the way you can notice the different positions of first and second generation in the video "Three stages of the PANArt Hang History". And on this site you can see Sabina Schärer holding a second generation Hang with the right angle.

On the first generation Hanghang with A or G Ding you cannot adjust the Gu so that the Helmholtz resonance is exact one octave below the Ding because you can only lower the frequency not highten it. I've never played such an instrument. So I don't know how the leg position can influrence the sound of these instruments.

Ix

Hello

I have a couple of thoughts about this...

The first is that I wear a skirt usually and it feels to me like it makes it so that it sounds the same no matter how I have my legs positioned. I would like to have the benefit of the gu variations but I also want to wear a skirt!

The second thing is that sometimes I like to play the hang in a way where the hang in on a chair, standing upright against the (open) back of the chair, with me standing behind the chair with my arms reaching over to play. I was thinking that this would be a good way, at least for one piece, to play when performing for an audience so they have a good opportunity to really properly see the top of the hang while it is being played. I haven't thought about the gu for that, but I assume it wouldn't be good.

Interesting points to ponder!

In the beginning it was difficult for me to find the right leg position and sometimes now it doesn't succeed. I found out that the easiest way to find the resonance is to hold the Hang vertically and use the hand as it is described in the pictures in the introduction post.

When you know how it sounds you can use this knowledge of the sound to find out the right positions in other situations.

I think there is no mathematical formula to describe how a skirt influences the resonance. So you only can try out. But I think it could be difficult to find a reproducible result because of the high flexibility of the skirt. It can be (especially if it is a thick cloth) that the Hang is impossible to find the right position because the skirt affect the Gu as if it is put on the floor. But I never tried it out.

For your "chair playing style" perhaps it is a possibility to use a piece of cardboard fixed with adhesive tape to cover the Gu partly.

In the end it is your ear that judge whether the sound result is what is good for you.

Always the joker

Thanks Ix, very helpful. I will experiment. (If you can borrow a skirt, you could try too if you really wanted to!!!!!!! )
(But seriously...I almost always wear skirts, and the skirt depends on the weather - in the cold weather, it is thick, it the warmer weather, not so thick, but I suspect, still enough to be an impediment.)

@Ixkeys: yes, I do have some questions about what you are writing, respectively about the Helmholtz resonance as such.

There's something about the Helmholtz resonance of the Hang which confuses me a bit. I refer to one of your photos where you write "generate the bass tone D2 with the heel of the palm..."
How is this possible?

I found an easy to understand explanation of Helmholtz resonance here.
So, a Helmholtz resonance happens, when the mass of air in the "neck" is compressed into the hollow body. This will lead to kind of a "chocking" (verschlucken) of the air, "spitting" the pressure back out, thus creating a certain frequency which is determined by the volume of air in the hollow body. This effect can be most clearly heard on indian Ghatams.

I wonder how and why an air resonance can be provoked by hitting the Hang from it's top side, because in this case there's no air compressed into the body.

As for wearing skirts when playing the Hang @Samjjana: Other than different materials, you should also check the lengths of your skirts. If the skirt is short enough, it shouldn't be influencing really

Firstly said,it really works, as you can hear here in the sound example on right.

As I understand the Helmholtz resonance is an oscillating system where the air in the neck reacts with the air in the cavity and outside the cavity.

You can activate this oscillating system from outside (Gatham, blowed bottle) or from inside (blow on the Ding side of a Hang). A blow on the Ding side compresses the air direct under the sheet steel inside the Hang. This creates a wave that strikes the air in the neck. This is the way how the air in the neck is compressed by a blow on the Ding side of the Hang.

Ix

Long and longish skirts Warner

Some I think are full enough that I could push them down between my legs when I sit (how ladylike is that!), but others not. Anyway, I might have to re-think what I wear when I play, especially for performances. Bit tricky at the moment, travelling with a limited amount of clothes.

The other tricky bit is that in winter, because the hang is cold steel on my legs, I put a wool shawl over my knees. I will also have to re-think that. How to stay warm and keep the air flow open....hmmmm.

Thanks