OT Tongue Drum-what to look for when buying

Redo1

I’ve been interested in a hang or handpan or tongue drum for a while. With limited funds right now I’m wondering if a small tongue drum will satisfy me. It’s just to play around with and relax to. I’m seeing these cheap 6inch tongues for $60 or so.
I have no experience.
Any advice?
Is this one crap for example?
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B081R671FV/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=AW4TB9K7HOV2B&psc=1

rs2000

Funny, I was looking for one yesterday too.
This is an interesting comparison:
These are high-end instruments costing $1000 and more but I think it's good to know what you probably miss when looking for more affordable models.

I was surprised about the difference between the "seamless" pan drum vs the tongue drum.
I wanted to get me a tongue drum at first (they're cheaper as well) but now I'll have to re-think.

Redo1

Ah good. Thanks.
Wondering if there'd be any downside to having more tones on say a 12" drum. Like this one for example
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0826RTT61/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A3R1U1C6THV316&psc=1

MonkeyDrummer

If you go metal tongue drum, get the ones by Pearl. I have 3. Best bang for your buck. Cheap ones suck ass.

rs2000

@Redo1 said:
Ah good. Thanks.
Wondering if there'd be any downside to having more tones on say a 12" drum. Like this one for example
https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B0826RTT61/ref=ox_sc_act_title_2?smid=A3R1U1C6THV316&psc=1

All the tongues will resonate and the more you have, the more tones you will hear when you hit it somewhere outside the tongues which will trigger them all (softly). This can be a good or a bad thing, I would say it extends the sonic palette.

Redo1

Thanks for the help guys. Best bang for the buck, I like that
A bit more than I want to spend right now. Was only interested because I saw there were some for $60. I realize they aren’t going to be great but just looking for better than nothing and a bit of casual fun. (With not much to lose - $60-$100)

McD

I have carpal tunnel in my hands.

I really don't want lingual tunnel in my mouth. I need my tongue for licking the plate.
The small pleasure of being a Boomer.

So, I used YouTube and this is just another hardware GAS attack. This needs to be marked OT.
I am too weak to resist... I can see my self on the street making grooves and picking up coffee money.

Paul16

All of the handpan players I have ever met have been vehemently anti-tongue / tank. ( plausibly due to their invested £1000’s on exclusive Swiss models, I couldn’t quite figure it out ) to the point of bordering on elitism. Yes, the sound from handpans is far richer, materials & production more costly, thus exponentially pricier.

If you are planning to play with your hands vs beaters, I would suggest something at least large enough to be comfortable whilst getting around it. Cramped working conditions can be a frustration.

There are a lot of decent independent makers to be found in ebay & Etsy land.

MonkeyDrummer

@Paul16 said:
All of the handpan players I have ever met have been vehemently anti-tongue / tank. ( plausibly due to their invested £1000’s on exclusive Swiss models, I couldn’t quite figure it out ) to the point of bordering on elitism. Yes, the sound from handpans is far richer, materials & production more costly, thus exponentially pricier.

If you are planning to play with your hands vs beaters, I would suggest something at least large enough to be comfortable whilst getting around it. Cramped working conditions can be a frustration.

There are a lot of decent independent makers to be found in ebay & Etsy land.

Hand pan are best, with well... hands.
I find tongue are best with mallets...

But that’s said here’s a short vid
https://www.instagram.com/tv/B4oqt6CBRT3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
With hands...

Fun to chill with, but I gave up trying to record and use fx with them... They sound amazing live but I think you need studio gear, treatment, etc to get the recorded well... so I’ll just stick to my Nord drums for recording...

mrufino1

I too was captured by the sound of one on a video recently and was looking at the cheapies before learning that they won’t sound like that.

Not that this is the same thing at all, but I found a few apps that do the sound pretty well if you want it for that, although it won’t provide the physical parts of that experience. Drumjam has a cool hang drum patch that has always been my favorite thing in that app as well.

Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr

@mrufino1 said:
I too was captured by the sound of one on a video recently and was looking at the cheapies before learning that they won’t sound like that.

Not that this is the same thing at all, but I found a few apps that do the sound pretty well if you want it for that, although it won’t provide the physical parts of that experience. Drumjam has a cool hang drum patch that has always been my favorite thing in that app as well.

Drumjam has four or five different hand pan instruments. It’s the best app ever.

I wouldn’t waste money going cheap on a metal tongue drum. Save your money and get a rav vast. They aren’t that expensive used, and are so much nicer than the cheapies.

stuck80s

McD

I think the hand pan drums are less of pure pitch in general.

The tongue drums are more pure in pitch and cross over into the metal-o-phone space.
The hands often linger on the surface and mute sustain... they can be struck and allowed to ring
but generally they sound more like muted cans to me.

You'd want to mute the hand drums if the pre-tuned pitches don't match the key of the tune.

The tongue drum might effectively create the tune.

Cost is always a function of materials and the expertise (hourly wage) needed to make the device.
Robotics allowed expert skills to be automated and create something like these excellent Chinese pianos and guitars. It's more like cloning as an art.

Most of the apps we covet are often clones of some real piece of gear. They create a simulation of a recording of something we really want to get our hands on. If the final result is a recording we can just cut to the digital domain and skip collecting more stuff.

DON'T YOU WANT AN AUv3 Impaktor App? All threads lead to Drambo...

rs2000

@McD said:
I think the hand pan drums are less of pure pitch in general.

The tongue drums are more pure in pitch and cross over into the metal-o-phone space.
The hands often linger on the surface and mute sustain... they can be struck and allowed to ring
but generally they sound more like muted cans to me.

You'd want to mute the hand drums if the pre-tuned pitches don't match the key of the tune.

The tongue drum might effectively create the tune.

Cost is always a function of materials and the expertise (hourly wage) needed to make the device.
Robotics allowed expert skills to be automated and create something like these excellent Chinese pianos and guitars. It's more like cloning as an art.

Most of the apps we covet are often clones of some real piece of gear. They create a simulation of a recording of something we really want to get our hands on. If the final result is a recording we can just cut to the digital domain and skip collecting more stuff.

DON'T YOU WANT AN AUv3 Impaktor App? All threads lead to Drambo...

That's actually not a bad idea at all, next to spending the time to properly sample a few different articulations from the real thing.

Jes

+1
I have a Rav Vast and it sounds fantastic...with hands or mallets.

@Wrlds2ndBstGeoshredr said:

@mrufino1 said:
I too was captured by the sound of one on a video recently and was looking at the cheapies before learning that they won’t sound like that.

Not that this is the same thing at all, but I found a few apps that do the sound pretty well if you want it for that, although it won’t provide the physical parts of that experience. Drumjam has a cool hang drum patch that has always been my favorite thing in that app as well.

Drumjam has four or five different hand pan instruments. It’s the best app ever.

I wouldn’t waste money going cheap on a metal tongue drum. Save your money and get a rav vast. They aren’t that expensive used, and are so much nicer than the cheapies.