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Hi,

it was late last night and it was not so easy to me to wrote my thoughts in english. Today I have not much time. But it is a very interesting discussion.

To play the Hang together with other instruments and make nice music is "another" facility of the Hang. It is great to hear the music from, for example Hang together with violin, or Hang together with piano and so on and on.
A lot of nice sounding music. This is not a better or less good way to play the Hang.
I have only no experience with this. I have played my Hang together with other Hanghang and a few times with didgeridoo.
Two years ago i was on a busking festival. After this festival i sat on the floor with a didgeridoo player. I played a little bit on my Hang and he played the didgeridoo. Another musician with a guitar began to play spontaneous. I had no idea how guitar and Hang work together. I played only my Hang and explained short, what are the notes on my Hang.
So he played melodys who worked well with the Hang. The next musician arrived and began to play. I never leave my Hang melodys in this session. I only played my style (it is nearly two years from now and my playing changed a lot on this time. At this moment i played the Hang only for one year)
More and more musicians with different instruments arrived. At the end there was maybe 8 guitars, a few didgeridoos, percussion, voices, flutes, and so on and on.
The result was over one hour music and a lot of fun. All the musicians played variations from the melodys i started with my Hang. I had no idea from the music theorie what i must play and it was not needfull , because the other players come to play with the Hang. A lot of fun.
You can hear a part from this on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vad_FxhQ8eA

It is in a later time from this session, but you hear ideas and variations from my Hang melodys. The Hang is a little bit lost with so many instruments.
I never said, that the Hang is not an instrument to make nice music together with other instruments. Felix and Sabina wrote in their last letter that it is a great luck to find another instrument to make music together.

It is only a little bit different and so your way to find out how notes work is interesting and helpfull for a lot of players who want to play together with others.
It is not my way to play the Hang. I only play the Hang without any idea and the Hang tell me what to play. Music for the moment. I dont make arranged music.
Any Hangplayer has a different connection to music and the Hang. This is one of the amazing things in the Hang. So many ways to play. No rules.
I dont like it personally how some players play the Hang, but this is only my idea what a Hang is for me. Some percussion players play the Hang like a drum and this is for my ears and eyes not so nice.
I understand what they do, because i am a drummer and percussion player. My first idea as i see the Hang on TV was to have this instrument for percussion.
It was a very early first generation Hang. I am happy, that my first contact with the Hang in the real live was a "second generation" Hang. In this instrument is for me much more than "only" a music instrument. But to make music on it is one of the good and nice things you can do with it.

I hope now it is a little bit better to understand what i feel. Nice to have so many different ways and so many different people who share what is their "Hangway"

Greetings
Frank

im sure you know where your notes are you would have done within a few hours all hang payers do as when you first get your hang you just cant put it down what I am suggesting is that through time with your hang you become even more intuitive and you will not have to think, over the 3 years I have played hang I feel I can now play spontaneously in the moment jams with other instruments, all i need is to find out what key the song is in and i either jam solely on hang or incorporate a bit of hang and cajon, using the hang with one hand cajon with other, using the cajon to fill the gaps that my hang can not fill hard to explain in txt. I play in a group called The Scopiums where i do this with great results

But if dots is the way forward for you, then Dot away I just preferred getting to know my hang through instinct rather than pointers/markers. I did the same when i was learning Cello as a kid, my teacher put dots on my finger board to know where the first and fourths were, within days i removed them, felt constrained, and looking back at it I wanted to be more free with the instrument, I also grew a talent of playing by ear, being dyslexic i found musical score confusing (drumming score however i could cope with but that was later on in my teens) I would play in concerts without reading a note. I then moved to secondary school who had no cello so had to stop, thinking about it im quite gutted about that, never thought about it before, i could have been quite good at the cello. Wonder if i would remember anything ?????????.

Anyway lol I have seen dots used on hanghang, but I have also seen the damage they can leave :( just be sure to remove after each session. Also On the rim would lower any chance of major damage/tarnish but would you see all dots easily if dotted on rim ?? I know Michael Colley had dots on his hanghang, between the ding plate and tone circle, as with his three hang he had the whole scale, but i think spread across all three and used the dots as reminders, but i also think (not sure but nearly sure) the dots left slight rust and surface damage ? that right Mr C ?

Samjjana - Got to agree that while your dots idea sounds great I would be nervous about trying to pick sticky dots off my hang afterwards... I would suggest maybe masking tape but I feel anything with a large contact area on the instrument will affect the sound. Personally I have a list of scales I can play with and their associated tone fields on my hang and it is a matter of trying to memorise the feel of them and referring to my paper when I have to.

Funky - I am watching that youtube video now - wow what a great sounding jam!
Alot of thoughts to try and put down in response to your post..

The Hang is such a unique thing I find the same - musicians want to come and jam with it.. I guess my desire to find a way to play in concert with other musicians in a more specific way comes from many places.. for one thing I am a very new Hang player - perhaps not confident enough to 'lead' a jam yet. I also have a strong desire to put together and record music with the hang so I can busk and play live, and have been very influenced by the portico quartet as well as Manu's handmade trio (did I get the name right?).

Specifically to you Funky I want to say that perhaps the question I ask which you have quoted comes from the perception that your 'Hangway' is a very admirable one, I love the idea of the Hang as a self exploratory instrument as much as I love the sound of the Hang when placed well in a group of musicians, perhaps not leading but taking a place in a musical soundscape. I very much like the idea of playing like this for small audiences so they can share some of the specific and wonderful dynamics of the Hang sound, and playing with other instruments activates some crazy effects with all of the harmonics that the Hang throws out. I have found that just having for example a saxaphone played near my Hang resonates over the body of the instrument. I would compare it to the feeling of being in a large drum circle and feeling the vibrations from other drummers playing over the skin of your own instrument before you even strike it.

So I wanted to say that I very much respect the idea of 'music for the moment' and in fact it is all I have played with the Hang so far, though me and friends of mine do plan to make composed 'songs' with the Hang. It is funny though to say that in fact with drums for instance and piano and even guitar more recently I am playing 'music for the moment' in so far as I am not taught. In fact I approach the Hang now with more theory in mind than I did any of these other instruments, I suppose the Hang enthuses me so much more that I now want to learn to better my playing.

But you are right, we all find our own way!

I definitely wouldn't put dots on the hang main surface, I was thinking on the rim, and I woulld only put them on very lightly, and take them off straight away once finished. Also, for me putting color coding on in a moment for quick readiness to jam with a new instrument would be the most 'thinking free' option...I don't want to think at all, I don't want to memorise at all. I look forward to trying it and reporting back...it might be a few weeks though!

Hi,

I have seen a Hang in the foretime, where anybody wrote the scale and some other informations with a felt pen direct on the Hang.
I see, that we have not the best smiley in the forum to post my emotion about that.

I think dots on the Hang could help for people who need a better orientation, but be carefull with the glue. Maybe it is not possible to remove without damage the surface or without a rust problem.

Greetings
Frank (boah. i must go to bed. Tommorow early i must pack my bags)

You would need to memorize and think about the dots though

I play a host of other percussives from around the world and always love to sculpt sound in beautiful ways. Tabla's, when played right especially, are a wonderful enhancement to the hang. The udu clay jug from Nigeria is also an amazing watery and mystic marriage of sound. A drone instrument like a tambura or harmonium provides a rich texture as well. I imagine a santoor or hammer dulcimer would be a beautiful combo.
I just posted this same topic without first looking to see the others, oops. Blessings to all.

Harmonium is a nice accompaniment yes, very colorful drone.
welcome ranganatha!

Very nice I especially love the first one.

Hey all,

I recently received in the mail my sansula (which I found out about via this forum) - tuned to match the hang and the D drone Native American Indian flute. It's lovely - and settled in so well and quickly that we have already included it in performances. I asked Mark at KalimbaMagic.com to recommend a tuning. He suggested G-C-C-A-A-F-D-D-Bb (for the integral hang and the D drone's D-F-G-A-C-D) so I decided to go with that. I am happy with it but am also open to any other suggestions (as the tuning can be adjusted).

Also, we have been performing with some other musicians here in Costa Rica, and one of them has a 'Raagini' - which is totally amazing. It is simply a little box that you can set to any key, and can also plug in to a sound system set up for on stage, but it is quite loud enough without amplification for gatherings of probably 100 people or more (depends of course on the acoustics of the room and the generalt environment). Anyway, it is an Indian style droning sound, and when set to D was divine with the sansula and hang and D drone flute (though only playing the single side not the drone side as the Raagini becomes the drone). We love it and intend to get one!

I've done a quick search and found one link though not very good...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YmGmVE0-5c&feature=related

We hope to add some of our last concert onto YouTube soon, and if I can include a piece with the Raagini I will post again here.

Cheers,

I also have something like what you're describing, but mine is a a sruti (shruti) box, like this:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0379417772

That's the one I have, and the vendor; I'm pretty pleased with it, the batteries have lasted forever ~ my only wish is that it could do the slow phasing drone of sympathetic strings, like a Tanpura, not just the more harmonium like drone that it does.

This is the one you're talking about, right?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0358303383

Five or six times as much, ouch! But I guess it has that library of raags? And the drone is pretty great.

I use this a fair amount with my Hang which has the IH tuning, tuned to D or F...

aaron

Yes Aaron, the Raagini is the second ebay link and while it is more expensive, I think it's good value for what it is. Having heard it and played along with it, I would buy one in an instant (we're just waiting until we return home to Oz in September).

I will be interested to explore the much cheaper shruti box you've given a link to so I will search for some YouTube videos, but I have the sense that the Raagini will be the better choice.

Cheers

Sam do a youtube search for Ron Kravitz. Ron plays hang and a world class shruti box. He also sells this shruti box.

Thanks Saggio,

I checked it out and seeing it, I now recall having experienced one directly before (a couple of years ago).

Seeing a YouTube video in which Ron demonstrates two shruti boxes (including being played with a hang) confirms my preference for the Raagini.

Three reasons - the first and most important one is that the Raagini can be set and left to play itself (by battery so can also go anywhere) - leaving my hands free to play the hang. The second is that I prefer the sound of the Raagini, and third is that the new shruti box he was demonstrating is more expensive than the Raagini.

It's all good though!

Just to clarify,

the little electronic shruti boxes work just like the electronic tanpura, and play themselves.

Btw I did some poking around about the Raagini and discovered that this whole class of electronic accompaniment devices was apparently pioneered in the mid-80s by a guy who founded a company called Radel. Since then, a bunch of others have introduced competing products at various price and quality points.

A quick look into forums suggested that the Raagini brand is considered quite good, with people coming down on different sides with some preferring it, and some the original made by the company that started it all, Radel:

http://www.radelindia.com/User_Products_QuickView.aspx

The Radel Saarang MaestroS and newer smaller Magic Zx seems to be most popular offerings, and in India it would cost the same as the Raagini. They have a bunch of products.

The online samples of the Radel sound very good; their higher end models use samples rather than synthesis. But I think the Raagini sounds great also, it sounds sampled as well.

Btw as a generic term though I'd start using "tanpura" instead of "raagini" since the latter is just a brand! And not the original either. Kind of like calling a Hang... a "Halo"... hahahahaha.

(I was also curious to see their drum machines for providing tabla etc. accompaniment... if I order a tanpura I might have to get one too, so I can have a little cluster going with basic tabla rhythms to practice to, plus the drone of tanputa and sruti box... )

aaron

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dsFkzDR ... annel_page i am using a radel tampura in this clip.

i have not seen this video for a long time - you can hear as i break into a melody later in the video that because of the wind and acoustics in the open air space that i am playing WAY too hard!

Thanks folks,
Great input - broadening my horizons and I'm happy to explore the Radel - it sounds good too, and yes, very similar to the Raagini. I would be inclined to back off the volume though - in this clip it was competing with the hang for attention! I think I would like to use it as a secondary sound, an accompaniment.
Good to know the shruti boxes can be set and left to play, though I still prefer the Radel/Raagini.
Cheers,

Oh yeah! I remember some YouTube from that gig...

Curious about the Radel, can you dial in various ragas that correspond in different ways to your various hanghang?

And, is the "loop point" of the samples obvious, or does it sound pretty natural when you adjust it?

Hey hangsters,

In the next concert we are doing we are going to have the opportunity for the hang to be played with a Paruguayan harp, grand piano, harmonium, didgeridoo and percussion instruments as well as the usual (Native American Indian flutes, and now the sansula).

I was thinking not only about playing with these instruments, but maybe suggesting the idea of playing with a call and response, or a sort of mimicking, where the instruments take it in turns - one plays something, the other responds etc - all improvised of course.

Has anyone tried it and can tell me what their experience was, and are there are any YouTube videos with good examples that anyone knows of...?

Thanks