Posts Tagged ‘music’
Several generations of hanghang
This week’s Afternoon Palate Cleanser comes to you via Atlas Obscura who yesterday turned me on to an amazing world instrument called a hang, an invention of the year 2000 by an arts collective out of Bern, Switzerland called PANArt.
A hang is comprised of two metal hemispheres welded together to form a flying saucer shape, hollow in the middle with 8 ‘tone fields’ on the top, that when thumped create a high frequency vibration with a haunting, ethereal and very unique sound.
The creators of the hang, Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer, have reimagined the hang many times over the years watching it evolve its current shape and intoxicating sound. PANArt sells hanghang (the plural of hang) out of their workshop in Bern but are notoriously mysterious about the process of getting one. In other words, even if you really wanted one of these amazing instruments you might have a harder time than you bargained for.
However, if you wanted to try your hand at making one, or one like it, here are some instructions on how to make a hang out of a used propane tank.
You can find more info and also buy the music of the hang by various musicians from PANArt’s official hang site.
After the jump is a video of hang player Dante Bucci in action:
Even though they jet across continents, rock stars were never supposed to be travel activists. Fortunately Mike Doughty is in the process of vindicating the addled indie rock community by filming the video for his latest release (You Should Be) Doubly (Gratified) amidst the beautiful settings of the Angkor Archeological Area and Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Watch him as he sings his way around beautiful landmarks, tuk-tuk’ing and lounging next to the famous thousand-year-old smiles. Oh, it’s a great song too!
Have a great weekend!
Thanks to Mike at Vagabondish for the find.
To get your holiday weekend off to a great start, I’ve included a smash hit by pop heroes the Bouncing Souls. The song, Airport Security, will make you happy they ever invented the TSA. I guess there’s endless sources for song-writing inspiration these days.
Try to keep these happy riffs in mind as you’re herded through the rope maze on your way to visit Grandma. (Who still loves you, by the way.)
Happy Thanksgiving!
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