Hang Drum
The Hang (German pronunciation: [haŋ]; plural form: Hanghang) is a type of musical instrument fitting into the idiophone class and based on the Trinidad & Tobago steelpan. It was created by Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer in Bern, Switzerland, and marketed by their company, PANArt Hangbau AGa. They took the name "Hang" from a Bernese German word that means both "hand" and "hillside". Though it has sometimes been referred to as a "Hang drum", the inventors consider this a misnomer.
The Hang is constructed from two half-shells of deep-drawn, nitrided steel sheet 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 instrument uses some of the same basic physical principles as a steelpan, but modified in such a way as to act as a Helmholtz resonator.
The Hang has gone through several iterations, and since its manufacture was discontinued in 2013, PANArt has continued to develop other musical instruments. Global interest in the Hang has led to the creation of similar instruments that are referred to as handpans.
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