steel tongue drum

The steel tongue drum is based on the wooden slit drum. The slit drum is known to have been developed independently by multiple ancient civilizations including Africans, Aztecs, and Indonesians. They were used for both ritual and entertainment in these ancient civilizations. The steel tongue drum of today had several predecessors, most notably the Whale Drum in 1990 by Jim Doble and the Tambiro by Felle Vega. In February 2007, Dennis Havlena, inspired by the physical properties of the Tambiro and the tone layout of the Hang, created a steel tongue drum with a circular cross pattern layout from an empty 20-pound (9-kg) propane tank. The name 'Hank Drum' came from a combination of "Hang" and "tank". Dennis Havlena's instrument, in turn, has inspired other steel tongue drum inventions. Today, a lot of vendors offer commercial versions of the steel tongue drum worldwide. • Illustration — Hank drum • Illustration — A steel tongue drum tuned in a pentatonic F scale with A 432 hz

Slit drums were originally built out of hollowed out logs or bamboo, but the steel tank drum is made from steel and often built from 20-gallon (9-kg) propane tanks. The construction is usually enclosed, unlike other open-bottom drums, so the sound produced resonates through the steel and vibrating air escaped from the slits. When building from a propane tank, the paint is usually ground off first, and then slits of the right lengths are cut. The drum is tuned by filing away some of the metal, or by adding material through soldering or welding.