Steel tongue drum

A Hank Drum, Steel Slit Drum or Steel Tongue Drum is a round steel slit/tongue drum originally fashioned from a propane tank.

Description

A Hank Drum is made from an empty (often 20 lb) propane tank. The tank is flipped over, the base cut/knocked off; and seven to ten tongues are cut radially into the 'bottom' of the tank (which becomes the 'top' of the Hank Drum). The tongues can be tuned by the player by varying the length of the cuts. The Hank Drum is often tuned to pentatonic scales but can be tuned to the diatonic scale, the chromatic scale, or any set of notes the maker chooses. The instrument is played with the fingers or with mallets. The tone is bell-like.

History

The Hank Drum as a steel tongue drum had several predecessors, most notably the Whale Drum by Jim Doble and the Tambiro by Felle Vega.^[1] In February 2007 Dennis Havlena,^[2] inspired by the physical properties of the Tambiro^[3] and the tone layout of the Hang, created a steel tongue drum with a circular cross pattern layout and from an empty 20-pound propane tank. The name 'Hank Drum' came from a combination of "Hang" and "tank".^[4]

The Hank Drum, in turn, has inspired other steel slit drum inventions, including a number of commercial versions.^[5]

References

External links

This article relating to musical instruments is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] YouTube Video: Felle Vega with his Tambiro

[2] Instructions for making a Hank Drum by Dennis Havlena

[3] Dennis Havlena: Make a "Tambiro"

[4] YouTube video: The Original Propane Tank "Hank Drum" - by Dennis Havlena

[5] Manufacturers of Hank Drums (in alphabetical order): 1Tone, Custom Tank Drum, Deftaudio, DrumVibe, Garrahand, Gombadrums, Hapi Tones, Harmonic Tympanum, Klangauge, MILLTONE, Percussive devices, Pronaam Acoustics, Rockcreek Steel Drums, Tankdrum, Xplosive Percussion, Zen Tambour

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]