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I've had contact with the Mother Ship. It seems that someone has been left behind. I have to travel late tonight to see if I can find and help this lost refugee......

More to come "very soon"........

real good good news !!!!
i wish we can see some HALO video very soon !!!

good travel !! imagineye ...

Ok, here's my first video with my experiences with the HALO. The first 4 minutes are spent isolating individual tone qualities. Right after the 4 minute mark, I begin some improvisational play to put the HALO through it's paces a bit.

Mind you, this is after midnight, after a loooong trip and little sleep. But the energy just made me keep playing until 3 am.

I hope this video will help highlight more of the qualities of the HALO. This was recorded straight with my mini cam. No other mic, other than the internal. The video is a bit grainy as I intensified the brightness a bit. The original playback was a bit dark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VEBNmeNzNw

wink Welcome to the world HALO.

Here is another.... straight play this time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnuotnkspEo&

It's too bad Funky just took off for his vacation! I am very curious to hear his reaction...

Hi,

i am here and go tommorow in the evening in holiday. I am curious why you are so curious to hear my reaction?
Yes, i listened the videos. I have not much time in the moment to say something about this. I booked the flight only two days ago and now i must clear a lot of things in my home and make me ready for travel.
I dont want to say something without time to see if my english is good enough. That needs time.

@aaron. What do you thing about the sound and other quality of the Halo?

Greetings
Frank

Naturally, I think you will have some of the most perceptive and critical (not hostile) things to say about the Halo...!

In the past month I have thought a long time about what you have written about the Hang, and your feelings on the Halo, Bell, Caisa, tongue-drums, etc., in relation to it. I value very much that you are a clear voice reminding us what makes the Hang not just unique, but 'magic.'



I am also still thinking about the Halo and my reaction. Of course it is based still on a small amount of information. But I do think hearing Danny's videos has given me a good start.

But my first reaction -- as someone who of course has not yet gotten to *play* a Halo -- is this:

I think the Halo is no Hang. It is not a "version" of the Hang. I will myself urge Kyle to change that language on his site. (IMO I guess he chose that language, 'version,' when writing quickly, but will be open to other suggestions that I think are more subtle...)

I believe that the Hang is as PANArt says a 'sound sculpture.' I believe it has unique properties, which give it a quality that attracts wonder and seems sometimes like 'magic' especially when you have not heard it in person before.

From what I have read here from you and Werner and others, and experienced myself, I believe that some of those properties are based in the Pang material/treatment/process and the way the Hang has evolved as a sculpture made out of Pang. And also that some are based on other things, e.g. its tuning process, basic geometry, use of Hemholtz resonance, the tuning theory behind the sound models, and so on.

I think the Halo is an *instrument*, a "handpan" inspired by and derivative of the Hang.

I think some people will not want a Halo, because it is not a sound sculpture with the particular 'magic' that comes from PANArt's focus and particular balancing of all the factors that make a Hang a Hang.

But me, I think it is a very very lovely and meticulously crafted musical instrument.

I think Kyle has made an instrument that balances the factors in the Halo according to his own tastes, or spirit, if you will. I predict that I myself will love it in its own way as much as I love my Hang -- just as if I have a second child I will love him'her for what s/he is. Not possibly the same, but with their own balance...

It is pure opinion, but I immediately felt, "Here is something just as Kyle has tried to say -- something inspired by but not intended to be a Hang, that will evolve with a different spirit behind it." I immediately think, 'There is a craft in this instrument that is very rare indeed."

Not the craft of making a Hang, but something we have not known before, the craft of making a Halo, a new resonant instrument made of hardened steel.

Fwiw as a musical instrument, I think it will appeal to some people and not to others; and that it will work in some musical contexts and not others. In particular I think its long sustain will be a double-edged sword; unless it can be controlled intuitively by the player, I think it will make it hard to integrate with some other instrument conversations, and not work well for certain kinds of music. Of course, for a solo player, as in Danny's video, it can be a truly marvelous affect.

Some specific reactions:

The different (flatter and wider) geometry and material of the Halo make me immediately hear, "Ah -- this is an instrument made of sheet steel" in a way that the Hang usually does not. I predict that for some tastes, particular, if it is listened to as a "Hang copy," that this will be considered a flaw...

At the same time, there is a (in its own way) a Hang-like warm clear "ceramic"-like tone that I assume is a result of good tuning, and nitriding, that makes it sound very different from (say) a steelpan, or a Caisa. (I say Hang-like because there is not any other comparison I can think of .)

The Halo definitely has a quite distinct and unique sound. I asked my wife what she heard in the videos; she agrees that someone who knows the Hang should certainly always be able to hear the Halo and think, "this is a Halo, not a Hang."

Most important to me, for my tastes, I hear Danny's videos, and I immediately felt my heart open to it. I believe I can tell you some reasons why...

The tuning model of this instrument helps. The playing helps. But it is also a combination of the unique timbre, and the lower register; and the unique type of sustain (and possibly cross-resonance or excitation) that I hear.

Over on Hang-Music forums, I tried to describe what I hear in that sustain as Danny plays. My first reaction was, "behind his percussive playing, I hear hanging dark velvet curtains bloom and fade into darkness." My second reaction was, "I hear a chorus-like rich set of harmonics, that sound like a Wurlitzer electric piano when played softly, or other chorus-y 70s electronic pianos..."

Not that I hear anything artificial/electric, just that there is a sound that I have always loved in those instruments that I would describe as "lush."

For me the unique timbre, register, and lushness combine to make something truly hypnotic. Not in the same way as a Hang, but in a new way. If I heard someone playing like Danny's videos somewhere in the world, I think I would be just as captivated as if I met a Hang player -- in a different way!

For me, in both the original Ake Bono recording of Kyle's, and in these videos, I immediately "see" with my mind's eye the dark smokey candle-lit interiors of temples in India or Cambodia during the early morning or late afternoon... pure association, it is the timbre and register at work in some mysterious way... it is a very strong reaction... very positive.

I have to say, I love it. I want to play one and learn it.

Technically, I am also intrigued by the way the hardness/power/speed of 'attack' when playing seems to yield a wide range of tonal quality. With a 'softer' touch the tone seems to have that very un-steel like ceramic purity. With 'harder' touch the steel sheet sound seems to be more prominent.

Of course there is still much to learn...

I cannot hear yet whether individual harmonics can be evoked in the way they can on my own 2nd Gen Hang. I want to know how the harmonics around the central dome (Ding-analog) come out. I want to know how the surface "feels" -- paradoxically 'soft' like a Hang? How does it react to brushing with the hand and fingers, does it make 'brush snare'-like sounds, like a Hang? Can one make one note excite another? (My 2nd Gen is very very excitable; most notes make others sing.) And so on...!

Sorry for the length; I have spent the last twenty four hours listening to this recording and playing some Hang and musing about what I feel.

Btw if I was going to make a "family tree" of hand-pans, I would still put the Hang in its own family. The Halo is in the other branch, with the Caisa, but it is on a sub-branch that bends back towards the Hang. Who knows, maybe someday they will mate! (Blasphemy!)

Looking forward to your thoughts, Frank.

(I hope, but do not expect, that you might find that you can like the Halo not as a Hang, but on its own terms... )

best,
aaron

here here


x

Hi,

@aaron. Thank you very much for your thoughts. My only problem is, that in the foretime some people think I am to negative because my english cant explain what I think in the real. It is not easy for me, because there are very complex thoughts to explain.
So i dont want to say to much , to fast. But I am happy, why! you want to hear what I think. I go tommorow in holiday. Only for one week and than I have time to listen the Halo again.

I never said that the Halo is a bad "music instrument". But to compare it with a Hang is a different thing. If you say: "our version of the famous Panart Hang..." as Kyle does, he open the discussion for comparing.

Before i say to much. At the moment.
I hear in the Halo from the first moment an instrument made of metall sheet and I am sure that the most other people think the same if they hear a Halo, but dont see it.
The most people who hear me playing the Hang on the street (a second generation) search a string instrument. A lot of think there is a harp player and they wonder very much at the moment they see me playing.
A big different.
I read a comment on the videos. Some person said he hear parts of the Hankdrum in the Halo. I hear this also. Between the Ding and the tone fields the Halo has a similar sound as some Hankdrums. If Danny is fair enough he can confirm that he can make a noise on the Halo what sound similar as you knock on an empty gas container. This is for my ears not a nice sound. The sustain is very long and on the fast playing parts the notes are a little bit wishy-washy. Dont understand me wrong. I think the notes are correct in tune. But together it is something in the sound what is not in balance.
I tryed to make such sound on my Hang. It doesnt work.

Yes, a very importand (if not the most importand 1th step) thing for a Hang is first the Pang material.
The surface from a Hang is ceramic. Not metall.
A Hang needs from the first beginning to the point it leave the Hanghouse three month. A lot of work to control the tension in the Hang.

I am sure, the Halo find a lot of players. I am sure a lot of are happy with this. So let me say, for those people the Halo is a sucess. Maybe all the nice scales are avaidable, soon.
I also like Hijaz , Niavent and so on.
If you read the last letter from Panart carefully you can read that the Integral Hang is on another way. Accept the form we have different instruments.

I qoute Panart from the last letter: " The hang has evolved into a listening device which can stimulate human beings in today's increasingly loud world. His inner voice becomes audible, his stance in life can grow more confident..."

The Halo is in my ears more near on the Steelpan. You can read that Kyle and also Danny called the Halo a Handpan. Felix told me, that the Hang is not a Pan. The Hang has not much to do with Pan. But this is another very complex theme. I have so many things in my head at the moment and I make the mistake to write to much, without time and without think about my correct english because this is for me very emotional. At the end maybe a few people understand only that I want to say something "negative". But this is not true.

Sorry, but the Halo dont touched me in the moment. If I hear the Halo i hear an interesting percussion instrument. Maybe in the future with nice scales. It could be, that it makes fun to play the Halo. This all is not the problem. I am also a drummer and percussion player. This are my roots. I like percussion. I think without the comparision with a Panart Hang it could make also fun for me to play on a Halo.
But I have a lot of experience with the Hang and the reaction from people. After my holiday I go in a hospital. There are a few people at the end of their life, and other very ill people. A woman doctor heard me playing on the streets and ask me to come and play.
I dont know how this work and I dont know how I feel and what is the reaction of the peoples in the hospital. But this is only one example what "ideas" bring the Hang in peoples like these woman doctor.
Hundrets of people in the last three years stand in front of me, with similar feelings. Some only like the Hang as a drum. Some only like the nice music. Some dont like the Hang and dont stop. But so many feel something in the Hang, what I cant explain. But I can feel it also. If anybody want compare another instrument with the Hang, for me personally he has to compare also this "magic" part.
And i know, that here under the members are a lot of who feel the same. The future will show, if the Bells and Halos can do something similar. I dont know.

The question is the "how" and "why"?

Ok. I wrote to much. This is what i dont want and before i read it again and delete my work (for this i need maybe one hour) i push the send button. I feel that a lot of what i wrote is not so bad.

Greetings
Frank

Frank, that was a great post and I don't think you come across as negative or harsh because of any translation issues; your English is very good, better than some native speakers I have known

I am a huge fan of the samples we've had of the HALO so far, but I do agree that it is a very different creation than the Hang. Not using pang metal probably has much to do with this and the fact that Kyle's roots are in the production of steel drums, leading him to make this "handpan", which does seem more metallic in the videos/audio clips we've seen and heard so far. Is a metallic sound bad? Not in my opinion, but for those hoping for a perfect Hang replica, it may not be what you're hoping for. (if you want a perfect copy of the Hang, send in a letter to PANArt and start waiting if you haven't already!)

For me, it is a wonderful new instrument to be explored and enjoyed and I think many will be pleased with it. But it would be silly to consider it an exact Hang substitute, because Felix and Sabina created something that is unique and as many have said has an element of "magic" that speaks to people around the world beyond producing a nice percussive sound. Different styles of playing Hanghang produce different sounds, obviously, which I think will be the case with HALOs (halohalo, aaron )

Perhaps the HALO will have its own special magic that will appeal to some people; either way, I'm excited to bring mine home and get acquainted with it. I also hope that I will some day be the proud parent of a Hang so I can discover it's power for myself.

Thanks, Frank, for taking the time to write. I know you are leaving soon.

One quick thing ~ I did not mean to imply that you have ever said the Hang is not a musical instrument! I just wanted to make it clear right away that I agree with you (and PANArt!) the Hang is not "only" a musical instrument. I think "sound scuplture" is a good term, but it is not opposed to or denying also the music in the Hang...

In almost all regards, actually, I think we hear the Halo the same way. I think we are hearing the distance it has from the Hang the same way.

Maybe the biggest difference so far is how we each (for now) feel about the sustain, and about the 'steel' sound that you describe like a Hank ~ I also hear this, but it does not seem unpleasant to me. It seems (perhaps because of metal treatment?) to have a 'gong' or 'cymbal' like quality that I do not usually hear in the reflections in a tongue drum.

I do hear some 'string instrument' quality also in the Halo, but not like a Hang, more subtle and elusive.

Whether these factors, and others, will certainly mean I think that people react differently to the Halo than to a Hang...

...but whether it will have its own, perhaps more subdued, 'magic' to touch people as the Hang does, I do not know.

Perhaps the gift it will give people is "only" the gift that all beautiful instruments give, in the music? That will be enough for me I think.

Btw I appreciate your correction about the Hang not truly being a "hand pan." And I agree that the Halo sounds like a "hand pan" in a way that the Hang does not!

best,
aaron

Also,

Fwiw I took the liberty of using some online and offline tools to extract the audio from Danny's videos, and the Bells Trailer II, and reencoded them as MP3s.

If you would like to listen to the MP3s without having to keep listening to the videos online, you can download them here:

http://quietamerican.org/hang/

They're at the bottom. I made two versions of Danny's first video, the short one (smaller file size) is just his 'playing' section, without the tone field exploration.

Hope none of the players mind, I didn't ask permission, erp!

aaron

Hi,

thank you Aaron,

i hope, we have a lot of good and interesting and fair discussions about all about this on this Forum. It is interesting and important.
So, for me it is time to go to bed. It is late in germany and tommorow i must fly to a beach, far away.

Greetings
Frank

I really like the sound of the Halo, although there are certainly some differences from the Hang.

As I played my Hang this weekend, I was thinking about all that people have said about the "magic" of the Hang, its characteristics not just as an instrument, and actually being a "soundscape" (still trying to figure out what that is exactly). The Hang is truly amazing, and as I played, I thought anew about the wonderful sounds, and how, even after a Hang spending hundreds of hours on my lap, sometimes my brain still has trouble understanding how a metal UFO-looking object can produce such wonderful sounds. There is still quite a bit of magic and mystery, despite the familiarity.

I find it very hard to make definitive judgments of the Halo after listening to sound clips on the computer. I have to say, I like what I hear, and I hope that I will like playing my own as much as I have enjoyed Danny's playing so far (hopefully even more).

The Halo was undeniably inspired by the Hang, and invites direct comparison, even with the acknowledgment that the Halo is not an attempt to be an exact duplicate of the Hang. (Indeed, it is somewhat artificial to even think the Hang as a singular entity, since there have been numerous versions in many differenct scales, over a number of years, and there is some individuality to each specific one.) I think the Halo is the most similar instrument yet to a Hang, whatever the differences already noted or yet to be discovered and discussed.

I think there are many avenues for the conversation to proceed, rather than the obvious, "It's not a Hang." Somehow I think and hope that comparing and contrasting the two will lead to a fuller and deeper appreciation of each, and the musical possibilities that each have to offer.

(P.S. Have a good trip, Frank.)

Can I help? I have room to take in a refuge.

If i like the sound of the Halo.....the "magic" of the instrument don't exist like the IH.
This instrument sound clear but i don't hear the deepness of the Hang.
I'm sure this instrument is a piece of art for many people and it's sure this instrument bring happiness and joy to many people but at this time i think personnlay is sound like a 1rst gen.
This instrument going to evoluated in the next month or years but i think the price is very to high compare to the IH.
That's sure.....to have the possibility to acquire a Hang, it's a long way and the HALO is a good alternative but..we are not in the same register.
I more prefer the Bell from Luis....the balance of the Bell is more interesting and achieved on my eyes and ears.
I hope this is the beginning of a very intereting way of life for Kyle but at this time of evolution....i don't want to buy a HALO.

Hi,

I just listen to Dannys new Halo video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRYOKz7pAqs

On this video I can hear a lot of "hank like" sound near the "dome". (Ding)
If I compare this video with the first Halo videos from Pantheon the sound is different. Is this only the result from the recording?
I heard that people think the Halo from Danny has changed in some sound quality over the short time he played it. Is this true? What do you think about the sound on this video?

Greetings
Frank

i still like the sound of the halo !!!
i don't think the sound have changed so much from the first Danny's video ...

in comparaison with Kyle's video , i think the sound is different because of the recording ...
and also because of the playing ...

do you think so ????

Hi,

what do you mean with the sound dont change much? So im am right that the sound change in this short time? Only a little?

Greetings
Frank

what change do you hear ????

perhaps the sound is less deep because it's recording outside ... and we have a lot of other sounds ... (wind , rain ...)