Hang Drum meet World, World meet Hang Drum

The hang drum is a very new musical instrument.  It was developed in Switzerland in 2000, and first used in a public performance in 2001.  The creators, Felix Rohner and Sabine Scharer, developed it for the company PANArt Hangbau AG, so it's another one of those instances in which a good idea belongs to a corporate entity...which in my opinion is a pity.

And the corporate entity doesn't like it being called a "hang drum," although that's its popular name.  The corporate entity prefers the term "hang."

Liron Mann (Liron Man) with his hang drum.

It looks like a very tiny flying saucer.  You put it on your lap and you play it, and beautiful music comes out.  That is to say, beautiful music comes out if you know what you're doing.  In our video short, "Tone Poem with Hang Drum," the hang drum is played by a master, Liron Mann (who sometimes calls himself Liron Man).  I asked him to let me try playing a little.  My sounds, well, you really don't want to hear MY sounds.

Small world:  an Israeli musician playing a new Swiss musical instrument in Spain for a short produced and directed by someone from the USA.

But HIS sounds...kind of like a xylophone, or a complete set of steel drums.  And his melodies remind ME of Israeli folk songs, but then I knew he was from Israel.  HE thinks his compositions reflect heavy metal.

Fantastic hang drum player Liron Mann (on the right) and Eve Ma-yours truly (on the left).

And where did I find him?  Playing the hang drum in the plaza in front of the main market in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.  We recorded his compositions in my apartment, just a short distance away.

Again, world music....from the seemingly endless world of music.

NOTE:  If you´d like to know more about Liron Mann (Liron Man), here´s the link to his Facebook page.

Our NEXT BLOG will present some preliminary thoughts about flamenco.