Happy 74th Birthday to the King!

Fans gathered for a cake-cutting for Elvis’ birthday. Priscilla Presley led the fans in singing Happy Birthday on Graceland’s front lawn.

Following the sing-along and the reading of an proclamations, fans lined up for pieces of birthday cake handed out at Graceland’s sprawling souvenir shopping center.

We all are very familiar with the most used of all instruments, the guitar, piano, drums, flute, etc. But this year, I will be starting an instrument awareness series to highlight and introduce some unknown musical instruments from all over the globe. I’m going to start off with the Hang Drum.

A Hang drum is somewhat similar to a Steel drum in sound but a bit softer. It is shaped like a UFO and it reminds me of a cheap  grill from walmart. It has 8 dimples on the top side. The middle dimple produces a bass note while the 7 other dings create some different notes. On the bottom side is a large hole that can be used to get a deeper tune. It is meant to be played on your lap and with tapping and pounding with your hand.

The Hang was developed in 2000 in Berne, Switzerland by Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer (PANArt Hangbau AG) and introduced at the Frankfurt Music Fair in 2001. Its name comes from the Bernese German word for hand. The two deep drawn steel hemispheres of the Hang are hardened by a process known as gas-nitriding.

It is hard to find a Hang these days since there are only two people who make these drums. The prices on Ebay can be really high because of the demand for these instruments.

Check out this Hang drum solo video: