Steel Tongue Drum-13 Note 12 Inch Percussion Instrument Lotus Hand Pan Drum C key with Drum Mallets Carry Bag…

Given the relatively recent popularity of "hang drums" -- and their expense -- quite a number of these tongue drums have appeared on the market as a kind of cheaper alternative. In fact, they are nothing like hang drums, but they a viable and interesting instrument in their own right.Hang drums (also called "hand pans") are made by dimpling and tempering spots in the metal on the surface of the drum. Properly made, they sound a lot like the pans in a Jamaican steel drum band.-Tongue- drums, like this one, are made by cutting vibrating tongues in the surface of the instrument, and they have a completely different sound. This instrument soulds more like an mbira, or more properly speaking, like its bass relative, the marimbula. Instead of resonating areas on a closed surface, you have vibrating tongues (like the tines in a music box) with open space around them. This allows the cavity in side the egg-shaped drum to function as a resonator for the sound of the tongues. While you can play this drum with your hands, the technique is a bit "fussy", and I find that small rubber mallets work better.The drum comes with instructions on how to adjust tuning, but I found this unnecessary. All of the tongues were as much in tune as I would expect from an instrument of this kind -- better, in fact. (I will note that the manual, while allegedly in English, was apparently written by someone for whom English was neither their first, nor second, nor possibly even their third language... good luck with that.)The tone of the drum is quite sweet, and each tongue has a definite pitch. Mine produces a diatonic mixolydian scale starting on G, of about an octave and a half (13 diatonic tones). When playing fast, there is a good deal of non-harmonic resonance from the metal areas between the tongues. This adds an interesting shimmer to the sound.On the other hand, I was able to damp that resonance with a couple of rubber rods jammed inside the drum, between the top and bottom surfaces, which resulted in a more pure, pitched sound from the tongues -- much closer to the mbira. The rubber rods ( which I made myself) turn out to be a handy accessory for the drum, allowing one to easily choose between two quite distinctive sounds.The drum comes with a zippered cloth case, two small rubber-tipped mallets, a small wooden stand for the mallets (that looks to me like a large violin mute...), some rubber "finger picks" for hand playing, and a booklet. Overall, I am quite happy with this product, and would buy it again. Recommended.

There is something primal, basic, and purely human about music. It fascinates and delights and amazes us, and connects with something deep inside, because it is inside us. The rhythm and music of life. The beating of your heart, the subtle symphony of life that we all experience in our own way.This drum plays sounds that connect to that; it wakes up your happiness. The tones are soothing and beautiful.This drum is bigger and has more notes, so it is well worth the extra 30 or 40$.I was impressed by the quality of the drum, but also the zippered carry bag (with a handle) it comes with, with a strap with sturdy clips, and of course little mallets. I have no desire to use anything but my hands. But the mallets work great.Don't be concerned about being able to "play" this thing. People posting about how to hit the right notes are making me laugh. Take this magical orb out of the box and hold it in your hands. It feels great. It will start to hum and ring. Touch it. Tap it. Slap it with your hand, the side of your thumb. Tap the lotus petals, or tap anywhere else. It all SOUNDS GREAT. It's a drum, NOT A PIANO! You can play a melody and drum for yourself at the same time.When you play the first note on it, you will play another, then another, and you wont want to stop. It will sound like everything is going to be ok. And you know it will be, deep inside your being, where the music is.Enjoy

Tone is deep and rich

I purchased what looked like the best options of a few of these steel tongue drums, in these general sizes, from a few different brands so that I could compare and find the best one.Here's what I found out:::BeatRise, both the 13" and the 14" drums -have 'tinny' sound to them and both had dead notesBerning&Lin 14" - sounded 'tinny', dead notes, and the weaving around the edges wasn't staying on.SMAUTOP 14" -came the closest to keeping this one. Its sound was a bit better but still had dead notes. I was also impressed with all of the stuff that came with it. It's like they like their customers. ;)Then I watched videos from people who know a bit more about this stuff and were making recommendations. I found out that bigger isn't necessarily better. You get more notes, but the shape and material differs from the smaller ones in a way that seems to make a real difference. I decided to sacrifice some notes and try a couple of 12" drums, from the list of recommendations.I tried::Harmonic Star Steel Tongue Drum 10" - it was really nice! the sound was sweet and if I hadn't tried the next one then I might've been happy with this one. It did have a little bit of a dead note, and was hard to get it to register well on the higher notes in general.and then,Rakumi,12" 'lotus' drum - This was the clear winner. And because it was the very last one I tried, I was sure glad I didn't give up or settle! The price wasn't too bad and totally worth it. It was the only one out of all of them that I tried that had ZERO dead notes. And it had the prettiest, fullest and most resonant tone. It also has a large cutout at the bottom so that you can get in there with magnets and tune it to another key. So basically, it's perfect. I'm honestly in love with it.For anyone comparing the options and wondering, I hope this helps!