For me, the Hang offers a path to freedom; freedom from thinking about scales, keys, notes, and many of the fundamentals that are normally associated with music theory and left-brain activity. This makes it slightly easier for me because I don’t like to think about that stuff when I play, but this freedom comes with some responsibility and a new challenge for me: to yield rather than to dominate; to approach the instrument with curiosity over virtuosity; to explore the nature of the instrument rather than impose too many pre-conceived ideas over it. When I see the Hang in this context, anything can and does happen. – Matt Venuti
A few days ago the American Musician and Hang player Matt Venuti published an article on his website where he answers some of the frequent questions that people ask him about the Hang.
Questions like
- How old is the Hang and from what culture did it arise?
- Is the Hang easy to play?
- Can the Hang be played with other instruments?
- What kind of instrument is the Hang?
- Why is it so difficult to obtain a Hang?
and others.
“The Hang, an instrument for our time” 
by Matt Venuti is one of the rare publications reflecting player’s experiences with the quite new Free Integral Hang. It explains an approach to the instrument that for some people seem to be “other-worldly” if compared to the usual musical context and may help to close some information gaps especially for English speaking readers.
HO INVIATO LA LETTERA SONO STRA CONTENTO ANCHE SE SO GIA CHE MI ESCLUDERANNO……
salve io ho ricevuto la risposta ma non ci ho capito un granchè,ho capito solo che per ora non vendono e che de devo fargli sapere qualcosa entro fine 2012 per fare cosa??? andare a berna a suonarlo? e poi??? quindi me lo vendono o no???
Hi silvia,
I don’t speak Italian so I only understand what I got from Google translate. Obviously you have a question regarding a passage in the letter you received from PANArt. I think it is the best for you to find someone with good English skills who can make a good translation of the letter for you.
bonjour
j’ai ecrie et regu une response IL nous dit de leur ecrir encore cette Anne
je suis proféseure de percussion et travail avec des handicaté et aussi des enfant a l’hospital de Strasbourg
je veux bien encore patient pour avoire mon hang .
dit moi conbien de tenps je doie adendre .
merci christian
I received the same letter in response to Silvia. in effect is not very clear. However, I will write the letter again later this year! well hopefully! bless you
It is quite sad that something so beautiful and infinitely healing, must only be available to a select minority. Clearly this is an international phenomenon that has the potential to transform our endangered planet. It would be amazing if PANArt could find a way to make Hanghang affordable and available so that it could be shared with the millions of people and animals who are suffering in this world.
Hi Zoe,
I think you project something on the Hang that it cannot be: “an international phenomenon that has the potential to transform our endangered planet”. The Hang is not able to heal “suffering in this world”. Hang and world don’t fit together.
The Hang is the work of two people working in tuning steel instruments for many, many years. They invented the Pang raw form and a tuning process but these are only two preconditions for the Hang. What the Hang makes a Hang are the personal experiences and practices this team of two tuners went through to receive the impact of the Hang’s sound. Each other tuner who want to participate in the Hang will have to follow his personal path practicing the tuning.
Considering this it is clear that it is not possible to shortly produce numbers of instruments that could satisfy a world wide demand. This is impossible. It is possible to mass produce instruments that look like a Hang and has some similarities in the sound. But those instrument will not have that touching impact of the sound a Hang has because this is the result of the tuners individual experienced work on any single sound sculpture.
The Hang has the property to fascinate people if they perceive it the first time. It is strange, seems exotic, it has an unexpected sound coming out of a vessel of steel…
In our fascination we shouldn’t think a life without a Hang isn’t worth living!
And our endangered planet doesn’t need a special sound. It needs responsible people working for changes in politics, economy, culture and religions. A Hang (even if it could be mass produced) cannot help.
Very interesting that you would misunderstand my comment as “life without a Hang isn’t worth living!” That is quite a HUGE projection and clearly you are one of the “insiders” attempting to claim musical frequencies as a human invention. You also misunderstand the phenomenon. The phenomenon I refer to is so many people around the the world drawn to something beautiful and inspiring. “Responsible people working for changes in politics, economy, culture and religion might also pay attention to sharing wealth in the area a arts, music, beauty, healing, community and inclusiveness.
Michael,
I sent Felix and Sabina a letter a few weeks ago. I do realize that it will take them time to sort through the letters, make their decisions, and reply, but I was wondering what the average wait is. I am prepared to wait until next year, but was just curious if it might be sooner or if I should try to keep my ears open. I don’t post on any hang forums so I am not familiar with the experiences of those people who have sent their letters in. It is okay if you are unable to provide a clear answer at this time, I just thought I would ask.
Thanks for maintaining this site and providing some kind of medium between the people out here and PANArt. May the force be with you.
-Aaron
Hi Aaron,
as far as I know there is no standard procedure. From time to time some hundreds replies are sent. From time to time means a number of months. But it is impossible to make a helpful prediction whether this means two months or six months in your case.
Thanks Michael,
I patiently await their reply!
Be well!
Hello Michael,
I sent a letter to PANArt on september 15 2010 asking to be included in the waiting list for a Hang. On May 10 2011, I received a mail from PANArt saying the following:
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PANArt Hangbau AG received your letter. Thanks for your interest in a Hang.
The demand for our Hang is still enormous. At the moment there are no Hanghang available and PANArt can’t give you a time frame when they might be available again.
You can obtain important information on Michael Paschko’s website: http://www.hangblog.org/the-call-of-iron/
==========
I dont know if I shall write another letter, or just wait patiently until my time comes. Thank you Michael. Best regards.
Miguel.
Hi Miguel Beltran de heredia Miyares,
there is no waiting list. Your letter was not filed to be considered in the future. The reply you received means that you have to be active and write another letter if you are still interested in buying a Hang.
Hello Michael,
I’m sorry to write you on here once more but am not too sure how else to contact you.
I’m wondering when the 20th anniversary of PanART is. If PanART unveiled the Hang in 2001, their 20th is still quite a ways off, am I right?
-Aaron
Hi Aaron,
PANArt was founded in 1993. The 20th anniversary is next year.
Hello from Vancouver Island.
I was reading on your blog “the call of iron” this line – We know that the high dynamic of the Hang sound cannot be captured by microphones, and loudspeakers only distort reproductions – caught my attention.
Have you captured the frequency range on any equipment capable of past 60,000 cycles? I believe many overtones can easily surpass professional studio microphones – I’m just curious what kind of microphones you have tried to capture the rich sound with? Beautiful instrument of sound creation. I hope to hear one physically some day ! Dreamlike quality to it.