hangforum.com - The Archive

Hey hangsters,

There are bits and pieces scattered over different posts about other instruments, and I am interested to share experiences and discussions about the hang played with other instruments. There are so many instruments that the hang sounds good with, I would love to find out what others have discovered .

For example, I will repeat what I put in another part of the forum...in just 12 months I have played my hang with: singing bowls, didgeridoo, saxaphone, soprano saxaphone, guitar, bass guitar, piano/keyboards, classical flute, Native American Indian single and drone flutes (that one I probably should have made first on the list as it's what we play all the time!), violin, harp, various drums (including drum kits)...at times just with one instrument, other times with a band of interesting combinations of instruments. Then there's voice, as we could consider that is an instrument, and also playing with another hang (it was interesting combining 'Lost's Egyptian second generation hang with my integral hang! ...audiences liked it.)

Although I've not heard them together, I am sure the hang would also sound great with violas, cello, double bass, sitar, lute...the list would go on. I have also seen/heard on YouTube the hang with dulcimer, which was beautiful.

I am sure that there would be plenty of you, especially who have had their hanghang for longer, who would have some great info to share...what works, what doesn't work - not only with different instruments, but also different keys of instruments. Of course some instruments have flexibility with that while others don't.

For example, my partner had 4 Native American Indian flutes and none were in a key to suit the integral hang, so we had one custom made so we could play together. It's a D drone flute, and funnily enough, it is not pentatonic (which they pretty much always are, as that's what they are supposed to be). They are magic together...so much so that after hearing them 'Lost' (Sergio) ordered a custom made flute to suit his Egyptian hang (which I hear ended up being quite a challenge for the flute maker - kudos to him for his dedication!) I look forward to hearing how that turns out.

So, not only are there off-the-shelf instruments, but also the possibility for custom made variations (which totally relies on the ability of the instrument maker to know if it is going to work or not.)

I realise the hang is magic on its own, but there is something magic also in the combination of hang with other instrument/s and it feels like an extra way for the hang to express itself in the world. While the hang has a profound effect on people, we have found the hang and flute and our combined energies within that often impact the audience more than the hang on its own.

I look forward to others' input!

Hi,

very nice topic.

I like the music from Manu Delagos Handmade. There he play the Hang together with a violin. It is a very nice combination. In this band the Hang is not the center point of the music. I think a Hang work fine together with acoustic instruments. Personally i like it more, if the Hang play together with not so much other instruments.
If there is percussion, it is for my ear better that the players play very soft. The Hang is not very loud. If a Hang is played on a stage and you must use an amplifier the audience dont hear the Hang. What they hear is the loudspeeker. A lot of get lost.
So if a Hang play together with maybe djembe, congas, bongo and so on, it needs a carefull percussion player. In this cases i like the Hang together with minimal rhythm accompaniment.

Didgeridoo and Hang is also a nice combination.
I play from time to time my Hang on the streets. A lot of people ask me, if i want to play together with this people maybe in a band. I explain, that my Hang has only eight notes and that i cant change the tonality. This was for few musicians a problem. They thought that this is after a short time boring for the other musicians.
In this case you need different Hanghang or you play together with rhythm instruments or all kind of instruments where the sound is in the main focus and not the melody.
I think there are a lot of nice combinations and i am curious of the experience from other hang players.

Greetings
Frank


Frank

I am primarily a recording artist on native american flute. I own 3 hanghang that I bought to accompany my flutes -- Penta C, D Ding, Eb. I love the hang in combo with other instruments. You can hear a bit of my experience with the flute and hang at my website www.saggiohealingarts.com and also at my page on CDbaby.com. Sorry, I'm not very experienced on computer and do not know how to make a hyperlink. You can hear two songs with hang and flute at the cdbaby.com page (tracks 3 & 4). Track 3 is the Eb hang along with a bass Eb native amer flute and other high and mid range naf. also jews harp. On track 9 you will hear in combo a Penta F & D Ding hang, along with a bass & mid range Am naf, a c major naf, and F major low Irish whistle, and an Am Sansula/kalimba.

Guess I should have mentioned my CD is titled HOLLOW BONE

Hi Saggio,
Thanks for the great links - good to hear! Lots of food for thought.
Interesting also that you play a D hang with F penta flute. Sahayak has an F penta flute but we haven't been able to get it to gel. Sahayak is self taught and doesn't read music, so the F penta presents more of a challenge in relation to the D hang. Fortunately the D drone does such a great job we don't feel like there are any gaps to fill, but it would still be nice to develop a relationship between the hang and other flutes.
The sansula sounds really lovely - it's good to hear it in that context.
Nice to see you have the bowls too - I play my hang with Alchemy crystal bowls (a friend's in Australia) and it blows our heads out! Very powerful.
Thanks again.

Cristal bowls can be very nice when played with subtly, unfortunately I have met very few people who do this.
Usually I end up loosing all my filings

Like many other....i play balafon or N'goniba ( simple Kora with 12 strings ) but just a question.....
I think about to buy a new balafon and i'm not sure....i'm thinking for a pentatonic model but with what notes ??
the same of the Integral Hang or others but i'm not a musician and i have no idea.
If you have any idea....im open to all propositions.
Thanks in advance

PS: you have the hello from Bip ( of the other forum ), my friend in music, but he don't write in english but read all post every day.

Hey so after surfing the web a bit trying to look for this here you are:

http://www.soundingbowls.com/index.html

Have never heard it live but I'm sure the sound quality is preety good if a recording got all those overtones and harmonics. You can hear two examples in "Tunings and Scales".

Would love to see and hear more of it specially more than just an example. I'm sure it would go great together with a Hang.

Greets
Sérgio

Thanks Sergio,
Great to have it again - I have bookmarked it this time.
Once we get back to Australia I think we are going to collect a few more instruments!
Keep asking if your flute has reached you....?

Sorry about that Maia, but no, it hasn't. it is still in customs in Lisbon I got their notice ready to send back to them, will do so monday. Then they still have to analise the situation and only then they ship it back here, and after all this I might still get charged for tax...!
It would be great to have it here by the end of next week but... I'm not sure.

P.S.: the vids on youtube are great, and there's another one of you playing somewhere in Costa Rica but I'm guessing its not one of your videos?

All the best,
Sérgio

Hey Sergio, they say good things come to those who wait!
(When you think about how long most of us wait for a hang, the flute is very fast!)
Yes, someone took a video at an earth hour event - the one where you can only see the candles. The other one is at a cafe where we were performing, but it is taken from a distance and there is a lot of sound near the camera so the quality is poor. These videos we didn't know about until after they were put online.
Have you got any video on YouTube yet?
Cheers,
Maia

Will be interesting to hear the result as there was a little bit of disbelief when I mentioned the customs thing relating to instruments being sent back and forth for re tuning and repair outside the European union.
Namely the Dutch tax office nailed me for 19%
and a further charge for the process of 12 Euros

yeah Maia, and I think the same, my only problem is that my flute is waiting in Customs... I tend to not trust them very much that's all. But I'm sure everything will be ok .
About the videos I was mentioning the one with the candles, very nice tune

The only thing I have online (while it is still available on their website) is an interview about a tea house/art gallerie where we performed on their opening night. So it's all about the space and the owners and there's only a small comment about the music. But they did use a parts of the first tune I was playing has a backgroung for the interviews.

Here's the link if you have the time to see it:

www.canaldosul.com/mostravideo.php?c=270

greets

Hey Sergio,

Given I speak Portugese so well (!) I could only rely on the visual and the music - it was great to hear the hang in the background, and where were a few good visuals there - a bonus to see Sergio there also, and the sansula! Looks like it would have been a great night - looks like a great place. I think I saw Lyndon in the crowd too.

All very cool )

We've just uploaded a couple more videos on YouTube last night - the links are on our samjjana site.

Blessings,
Maia

Sam, I think you misunderstood me. I play my D Ding Hang along with my Penta F Hang. An F minor flute will not work with it. An A minor and Dm will. Also have an F major Low Irish whistle that sounds great with it. And most recently my custom made Mandinka Magic Kora in F major.

Hey Sergio,
Yes, I read 'Penta F and D Ding Hang' to mean Penta F flute - and I was surprised but now you say not, it makes more sense. Though Penta F hang I would assume has some notes that don't go well with the D?
Thanks for the tips re others keys that work - we are exploring other instrument and will get other flutes so this will help our experimenting.
I have no idea what a Mandinka Magic Kora is so that'll be something else to explore!
Cheers,

Sam, I am Saggio, not Sergio. Two different people. My D Ding hang and my Penta F hang are completely consistent to my ear. The Mandinka Magic Kora can be seen and heard at www.mandinkamagic.com.

Sorry Saggio, I knew you were Saggio and I meant to write that, but it was also first thing in the early morning and I wasn't quite fully awake yet!
Thanks for the link - lovely to see and hear it.

I like the sound of the Shruti Box as seen in this video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNXV3FxGs08

If I were to try this, I would have to invent a foot pedal for the Shruti box so I could get both hands on the Hang.

You can get electronic shruti boxes, I found one on eBay. It's nice to have a drone while playing.