PANArt Communication May 2011: The Call of Iron

Hang® by PANArtIn the year 2001 PANArt introduced the Hang. 10 years later the Hang builders at PANArt, Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer, are using this anniversary as an opportunity to communicate to a broad public where the “call of iron” has taken them, where they stand today and how they intend to continue. The Hang Library publishes the PANArt communication in four different languages: German, English, French and Italian.

The call of iron

54 Comments

  1. I received a letter from PANArt today. Hard to understand. Is it a “NO “is it a “MAY BE?” is it a “Wait please”.I do not know if i can have some hope or not.
    these are the terms of the letter:”At the moment,there are no hangang available and PANArt can’t give you a time frame when they might be available again”
    I red there is no waiting list anymore. Is it necessery to write again? Please Mickael do you know some more about that? sorry for my poor english. Thanks

  2. Hi danielle kominowski,
    there wasn’t a waiting list in the past too. PANArt has the problem that the demand is much higher than the number of built instruments. If PANArt would file all requests in a waiting list, this list would grow longer and longer and the customers would have to wait theoretical 10 years or more. Therefor the Hang builders at PANArt chose for a period of one year among all letters they received whom they will sell a Hang. These persons are invited to their workshop in Bern to pick up a Hang personally. The last appointments for 2011 were made a week ago. All the others (the majority) got the letter or mail you got. Your request is not filed and PANArt will not look at your request again when they will decide in the future who will be invited in the next or following years. If you are still interested to buy a Hang it is up to you to be proactive in the future. In my personal point of view it doesn’t make sense to write a new letter immediately because there are 10 months minimum (or even more!) when no Hanghang can be offered. You would likely receive the same refusal letter again.

  3. Thank you for your answer Michael. Now it is clear… Iam sad to know That the answer is a ” NO” said in a soft way. I’m afraid it is Nether for me ,since I am rather old… that’s life isn’t it!
    the best for you…
    danielle

  4. Dear Michael,
    I have read the 2011 Communication from PANArt many times and not everything is completely clear to me.
    Maybe you can help me understand what Felix and Sabina mean by playing “integrating ding and gu”? I’ve never played a Hang unfortunately but as one of the many who would love to have one, I’m very interested in understanding this part better.
    Thanks for the help and advice you may provide…

  5. Hi Francesca,
    in German there is a quite new explanation about Gu-Ding-Integration I wrote for the Hanglexikon: Gu-Ding-Integration. It isn’t translated to English by now.

    The best explanation in English I can find is a two years old topic in the Hang Forum archive: Adjusting the Gu while playing the Hang. You must be aware that at that time the terminology of “integrating Ding and Gu” was not common. But “Adjusting the Gu while playing” means the same. You must also be aware that at this time I self was experimenting with the integration of Gu and Ding. Today I understand more about this but you can read it only in the German Hanglexikon until I will have managed the English translation.

    I also recommend the Hang Guide. On page 8 the Gu-Ding-Integration is mentioned but without using this term.

  6. Thanks Michael! I don’t speak German so I’ll have to patiently wait for a translation – in the meantime I’ll read the rest! Thanks! :-)

  7. Received the mail and have not been lucky this year too.
    Anyway, huge respect to F&S for their work

    Now, what I’ve been wondering Michael, do you own any Hanghang?

    My kindest regards

  8. Hi Michael. I’ve been reading nearly every one of your helpful comments and post to attempt to gather all the information I can about the hang. I am incredibly fascinated with it and would love to connect with one. I immediately sent a letter to Felix and sabina and was just curious as to wether they are responding to letters at this time, and the length of time it typically may take for a response. I know acquiring a hang requires patience. Thank you!

  9. Hellow,

    Thanks for information in this blog, could you send to me the email adres where I can send to you my request for hang. As I uderstend it may be next year, so I hope the luck wouldn’t pass me away. Hope I’ll recive your message and will send requeast only next year. :)

    P.S David Swarup every year have came to us (Moscow) and always telling that PANart don’t work anymore… Pls go to Halo or Bellart :)
    I have Caisa D-Moll but it is not a hang :((( coz I’ve tryed the David’s hang…
    Waiting your replay!

    With Best Regards,
    Pavel, Russia Moscow.

  10. And why don-t they give others the opportunity to build one?? They should open the specification to let other persons/companies to build a hang and not to have the monopoly of the hang…

  11. Hello Michael:
    Thank you so much for coordinating all the communication that the PANArt Hanghang have generated!

    I will be sending a letter to the builders/artisans with my plea for being invited some time in the future. Have 2012 requests been filled already?

    Best to you,
    David

  12. Hello all,

    I sent a letter in January and already received an email today from Felix and Sabina telling me that they could not sell me a Hang this year …
    See you in 2013 !

  13. Hi Michael,
    First, best compliments and thank you for your work in the Hang Blog.
    I need an information if you can answer me, i sent a letter in july of 2011 and i receive a answer in 2012, how a thought no more instruments are avaible for the year, but actually i don’t understand what year is it, if 2011 or 2012. And now, can i use the e mail adress that they have used to answer me to write again, or is better to write another letter?
    Thank you for your time.

  14. Hi Nedim Dervic,
    in January and February 2012 PANArt choose the customers who can buy a Hang in 2012. All others were informed that they cannot buy a Hang. So if you receive the reply within this two months the year 2012 is meant. If you decide to try it again you must send another letter.

  15. Hello Michael,

    i would like to ask you in connection to the last posts.

    I have sent my second letter in the start of January and till now haven’t received any response. Do you think, that was too late and all Hanghang are already booked, or there is still a hope for this year? :]

    Thank you for keeping this unique blog alive!

    Jakub

  16. Hi Jakub,
    all those who can get a Hang till autumn this year got already an invitation. I don’t know when the next invitations will be sent. I think the best for you is not to think about whether and when. You cannot do anything until you will receive a reply.

  17. Hi Michael,
    I wonder if you can clarify something for me, and please excuse my ignorance as I have just discovered the hang this week. What do the mean when they say
    “to inform all Hang players on streets and in parks that we are flooded by letters from people who were deeply moved and also want a Hang from PANArt. We are asking all street musicians to contemplate their mission.”
    It makes me wonder if they view hanghangs as more of a precious sound to be cherished and kept for yourself? Or maybe I don’t understand, could be the translation.

  18. Hi Olivia,
    the background for this passage in “The call of iron” is a real problem. The first contact with a Hang often happens on the streets. For example there is a number of street musicians who are playing the Hang day by day in the parks of Barcelona. Many, many letters arrive in Bern saying: “I heard the Hang in Barcelona and want to have one for myself”. Another example is the Hang player who recently joined the “Italy got talent” show in Italian television. PANArt was flooded with letters of people who wanted to buy a Hang because they wanted to do what that man on television had done. The problem is that on the streets and on big stages the Hang is very seldom represented in a way that show its characteristics. Street musicians play the Hang mostly way to hard and people think the Hang is a drum. They write letters saying that they also would like to play such a nice drum. The vast majority doesn’t have the foggiest notion about the development of the Hang in the last four years and are not aware that they ask for something that PANArt is not able to give them. Hang buskers make a very effective job to misrepresent the Hang in the public and this is a problem for PANArt as well as for those who are asking for a Hang.

    The Free Hang needs a quiet place so that the player can hark to the sounds in silence. Also it is not a good idea to get a Hang and then immediately use it for your music performance. There is a lot to experience and learn with the Hang and yourself. And afterwards – when you got familiar with your Free Hang you will be looking for the situations in which you are playing the Hang for others quite carefully. It will not be the streets, the parks of Barcelona or the stage of a TV show. Perhaps the recently published article by Matt Venuti can help you to understand more about this.

  19. Thank you Michael. After asking this I went on to read the Hang guide and now understand it a bit better. I read Matt Venuti’s article before and I know he does play for audiences so I was confused about how PANArt would feel about that.

  20. Dear Michael,
    I sent my letter by fax at Panart in February 2012, with no hope, and waiting to send the same mail.
    Today, with great surprise, I got an e-mail from Panart. They tell me that Hanghang for winter and for spring 2012 are all sold out. But ending the e-mail with these words: “Dear reader, please take into consideration the strong impulse That you have Received does not Necessarily devolves the purchase of Such a sound sculpture. To be touched by something is one thing – to be the one That Is is touching something else. Should you wish to let yourself in to playing the Free Integral Hang, please let us know by the end of 2012 in writing. ”

    Can you help me understand what it means?
    Should I write him this year if I want to buy a hang?
    It means that if I were to write again, they will consider my request?

    Thank you in advance

    Cristina

  21. Hi Michael,
    I have just received the reply to this year’s letter of mine for the purchase of a Free Integral Hang saying that it will not be possible also for this year (I tried as well last and two years ago….but I know, it takes time). In the reply it was said to write again within 2012 if I want to ask for next year. My question is: is it the same to write again in the next few days or it’s better near the end of the year? Or, is there a period of the year when a request letter has some better chances? Or, writing four-five letters now and then along the year could increase the probabilities? Or maybe will it get the opposite effect?
    I’m ready to write, wait and hope until I’ll be invited to Bern to come back home with an Hang, but…if I can make the wait a few years shorter, it would be nice.

    Anyway I want to add that, in any case, I deeply appreciate and respect the way Felix and Sabina are doing both as a way for the understanding of what the Hang is made to be and as a way to show how a successful enterprise and business can be managed on a human and sustainable ground even in this time.

  22. Hi Christina,
    this mail is not a promise to sell you a Hang in the case that you will write again. Read it as an invitation to make your own considerations and decisions. Read the whole mail carefully. Read the publications by PANArt in the Hang Library about the Free Integral Hang. If you decide that you want to buy a Free Integral Hang, you should send a letter by the end of 2012 if you want to get one in 2013.

  23. Thanks for your reply, Michael.
    I will write a letter as soon as possible to give to “me” a chance to obtain a free integral hang for the next year.
    And thanks for your advices.

  24. Lieber Michael,

    vielen Dank für Deine Geduld und Achtsamkeit diesen Blog zu führen.
    Ich darf mir im Juli mein Hang aussuchen und bin voller Freude und Aufregung.
    Herzlichst
    Carmen

  25. Hi,
    I’d like to buy an hang to make a gift to my husband for his 40’s birthday next year
    I know is very difficult but i want to try
    I know that the only possibility is writing a letter
    You know if is possibe to write a letter in italian because my english isn’t very good and is very difficoult to me explain my reason to buy the hang.
    Thank you very much

  26. Hi Sossa,
    you can write in Italian. But I think it is not a good idea to write a letter for your husband. Are you sure that your husband is really interested in a Free Integral Hang? If he is interested he should inform himself about the Free Integral Hang, which is different to former versions of the Hang, and then write a letter by himself. He also must travel personally to Bern to choose his Hang, if he get an appointment.

  27. hello Michael,

    I am Luca,i received my second letter of response from the hanghang Builder;
    i am writing to know more,as indicated in the letter.
    I’ve 2 questions:
    -really there isn’t the waiting list?
    -Felix and Sabina they thanked me for the interest but have to write again ,
    but the next letter I did’nt want to write in August again, when I can write it according to your humble opinion?

    presented you please, you play Hang?

    soon

  28. Hi Luca Luparelli,
    yes, there really isn’t a waiting list. If you are interested in buying a Hang you must write a new letter.

    In the reply you received Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer announced a publication with information about the Hang for the year 2013. I think you should wait until this was published. So you can consider whether the new Hang is still what you are looking for. When you periodically have a look on the Hang Blog or subscribe a rss-feed you will not miss it.

  29. hello Michael ,
    i’m curious for this event !
    have a good day.
    thankyou your work is useful to all.
    bye.

  30. I find your opinion of “misrepresenting” the instrument hugely misconstrued. As PANArt likes to call their instruments sound sculptures, and their company name has the word art in it, this might mean that it is to the makers a piece of art. Art, when let out into the world, becomes cultural property of those who interact with it. So i believe to think that this instrument is somehow misrepresented by buskers is honest to god ridiculousness and shows the true ego of the one who speaks. They made it, GREAT, now let your baby out into the world and see what others will do with it.

  31. Hello I have a Hijjaz Hang 1st generation, and I need a to retune it!
    I don+t have a contact or email, can you hel me please? Hank you

  32. Thank you very much Michael! deeply gratefull =)
    I Hope Felix and Sabina get my message soon.
    Part of my soul is missing without my beloved Hang…
    Kind regards

  33. Hello again Michael!
    I´ve sent a couple of emails to Sabina and Felix, but i had no answer… Is there any other way of getting in touch with them?
    i really need to heal my Hang as soon as possible…
    Kind regards

  34. Hi Michael
    I´ve purchased my Hang in 2004. I ordered it trough a intrument seller in Alicante, Spain – A guy called Nestor and his store was called Harmonic sounds.
    By that time, I was in touch directly with Sabina and Felix by email and telephone (both those contacts seem no longer available the phone number now seems to go only as a fax)
    I´m from Lisbon , Portugal. And since it is my only pan I´m terrybly unhappy that I can play no longer.
    Theres has been no accident with my Hang. The last few years it has been slowly coming out of tune in some notes (the Ding first) a quarter of tone more or less.. And it become impossible to enjoy the beautifull Hijaz scale. It´s severly out of scale now, almost all notes are changed.
    My work with the Hang is part of my life and many people around me. I have a band (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfcztJRUDR8), I make music for films and theatre, I work with music therapy and children and so on.. so you can imagine how i miss my beloved sculpture.
    Now I don´t know who to trust to retune it for me….
    hope you can help with this. I would be eternaly greatfull
    kind regards
    Carloto Cotta

  35. Hi Carloto,
    I guess the Hang makers at PANArt will not retune your Hang. Your videos (not the one you linked, but others) show that you partly have a quite risky playing technique that is able to detune your instrument. As it is written in “The call of iron” PANArt stopped tuning service for such cases. I’m not able to recommend another tuner to you.

  36. Hi Michael,
    I´m really sorry that I played too hard in my instrument sometimes, I
    wasn´t aware it was so risky to do so. I´ve learned my lesson. I wish I could go back in time and only play soft. I hope Sabina and Felix would understand that I´ve learned from my mistake and that I have an utterly profound respect for the Hang. I would never repeat the same error again. I can´t express how unhappy and devastated I am. I feel like I´ve lost someone I love. Isn´t there anything I could do now?
    thank you again for your help and your attention
    kind regards

  37. Hi Carloto,
    I think it is only partly a question of personal approach, experience or knowledge. More important is the context. Contexts like busking or a band let the Hang players hardly a chance for an applicable dosage of forces.

    But when you read the paragraph regarding this topic in “The call of iron” you will understand, that PANArt made a principle decision to prevent those personal discussions what Hang players had done or not done and what they will do in future or promise or what they’ve learned etc.. Discussions that took place very often in the years before. You can think about this decision whatever you like, but they made very clear, that they are no longer interested in discussing personal cases. Therefor I think it doesn’t make sense to discuss your personal attitudes.

    I cannot recommend any other tuner to you, because of lack of concrete experiences with results of tuning attempts by other tuners. I only played a Hang tuned by Eckhard C. Schulz a few years ago. And I would never give him a Hang for tuning. That’s all what I can say. The main problem is, that I don’t know about any tuner who is familiar with PANArt’s tuning techniques. Therefor any other tuner will modify your instrument, when he takes the hammer.

  38. Thank you Michael, you´ve been very helpful. I hope I had known this before. I´ve change my aproach to the Hang after this. I completely agrree with Sabina and Felix´s principles. I just thing they could take in consideration cases like mine, because every body should have a chance to learn from their mistakes. And in my case, when I got the I was never told by them not to busk or play in bands, or how loud I should play it or wich techic should I use. No instrutions were ever given to me. I didn´t know anybody playing Hang. So I followed my path alone, and only now I can see I´ve played with a risky technic sometimes.I will never use my Hang for busking or play it without total gentleness. Again I hope someday they reconsider my case and accept my honest apologies and retune my hijaz. Is there something I could do?

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