Hang (instrument)
The Hang (German pronunciation: [haŋ];[1] plural form: Hanghang)[2] is a type of musical instrument called a handpan, fitting into the idiophone class and based on the Caribbean steelpan instrument. It was created by Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer in Bern, Switzerland. The name of their company is PANArt Hangbau AG.[3] The Hang is sometimes referred to as a hang drum, but the inventors consider this a misnomer and strongly discourage its use.[4]
Percussion instrument
111.24
(Percussion vessels)
Felix Rohner, Sabina Schärer
2000
The instrument is constructed from two half-shells of deep drawn, nitrided steel sheet[5][6] glued together at the rim leaving the inside hollow and creating the shape of a convex lens. The top ("Ding") side has a center 'note' hammered into it and seven or eight 'tone fields' hammered around the center. The bottom ("Gu") is a plain surface that has a rolled hole in the center with a tuned note that can be created when the rim is struck.
The Hang uses some of the same basic physical principles as a steelpan, but modified in such a way as to act as a Helmholtz resonator.[7] The creation of the Hang was the result of many years of research on the steelpan and other instruments.[8] The inventors of the Hang have continued to refine the shape and materials and have produced several variations over the years.
The name Hang comes from a Bernese German word that has a double-meaning, one of which is hand and the other hillside[9] referring to its convex shape. It is a registered trademark and property of PANArt Hangbau AG.[10]
Growth of a worldwide interest in the Hang created a group of similar instruments that are referred to as handpans, a term coined in 2007 by the American steelpan producer Pantheon Steel.
Termination of Hang manufacturing and development of new Pang instruments[edit]
As of December 2013 PANArt announced[20] that the Hang would no longer be made, as the PANArt tuners were completely concentrated on a new different instrument, the Gubal.[21] In the following years PANArt developed a number of other instruments called Hang Gudu, Hang Urgu, Hang Bal and Hang Gede as well as a number of string instruments and created a collective improvised music form played with these Pang instruments.[22][23]