Okay...just catching up to this...Since I have been making Tongue drums longer than anybody in the market with the exception of Hapi-Tones let me put my 2 cents in here. For harmonic distortion and out of tune notes and such on mass produced drum...you may be able to bring it in tune with a hacksaw blade...but the distortion is usually caused by poor note spacing...poor quality steel or a combination of the 2. Tuning by bending tabs: DO NOT DO THIs!! especially on drums made from thin steel or drums made from old propane tanks. If your drum is made from an old propane tank and you are having troubles with it...it is usually because old propane tanks cannot be used for propane any more because they have failed their hydrostat test so the metal is brittle and usually riddled with stress cracks in addition it has thick and thin spots in it usually due to pitting and rust. Bending the tabs stresses and weakens the steel and may cause the note to go "Dead" or break off completely Tuning with magnets. This is a bit of a pain...if you use a regular magnet it is usually not strong enough and will move around and can even cause the note to make a buzzing sound. For regular low carbon steel (mass produced drums, propane tank drums, etc) use "Earth Magnets" as they are very strong and won't move...the downside to magnets is they are a bit of a pain and sliding them around the surface of the drum will scratch it all up over time. Tuning with a hacksaw blade: For the mass produced drums, propane tank drums or carbon steel drums any old blade will do just as long as it has 32 teeth per inch or more. My Vibedrums are made from 13 gauge (2.25 mm thick) Stainless Steel and you will need a special blade to cut due to its hardness and tensile strength. Warning: Tuning is a one way street...you can decrease the frequency but cannot increase it without screwing up the look of the drum...so if you cut too much...you have to take it to the next lower note and may have to end up cutting all the notes to reduce the entire scale to the next one down. There is also a risk of the blade slipping out while cutting resulting in a major scratch along the top of your drum. If you could care less how your drum looks then the best and easiest way to Increase the frequency is by drilling one or several holes in the note around the top outside edge and working your way down the sides TUNERS: okay so you want to bring your drum into tune. First tuners that attach to the drum are a "no go" due to the drum being a uni-body instrument. Second if you are using an app from an I-Phone there is not a single tuning app that accurately catches the frequency of a Steel tongue drums because you cannot adjust the microphone sensitivity on an i-phone so it picks up all the over-tones, distortions, background noises even the sound of an A/C unit in your house. For an Android phone I recommend the G-Strings or the Waves App but you need to play around with the settings to get it just right for your phone. You also need to find a way to quiet all the overtones from other notes (especially if there is poor note spacing) so that your tuner picks up the frequency of the note you are trying to tune and no other Bad Faith actors: Here at Vibedrums we have had a customer or two over the years that have tried to change the tuning on their drum...and ended up messing it up...then they tried to return it as an "Out of Tune" drum...however since we keep records of the frequency and cut length of each and every drum we send we know what happened. So in a word or two: Tune at your own risk. Alrighty then I think that covers most of it..hope it helps...vernon...vibedrums
I would like to ask you a question on the construction of this instrument if I may: a) how do you determine the size " diameter " of a tongue? i.e. of a semicircular top for example and the length of the tongue. b) Is there a formula determining the overall size of each individual note on the drum? Thank you in advance
@@theo9845 I have not built a steel tongue drum myself, but I have seen several videos of it being done. I appears most manufacturers have a series of templates they'll use to cut the tongues... use this template for A, this one for E, etc. So they'll cut those "default" tongues and then fine tune everything to pitch with a hacksaw blade or similar tool. I would imagine those templates come from a lot of trial and error (and possibly some formulas). I'm assuming the shape of the tongue (round vs rectangular vs triangular) is mainly an aesthetic thing though I know Vibedrums uses their shape because they say it's easier to get a good sound. Ultimately it's the mass of the tongue that determines the pitch so two tongues with the same mass but different shapes should still ring at the same pitch. One may be easier to strike though. Again, this is all theory. I've not done it in practice. Somebody out there may know more. Thanks for watching the video and asking a great question.
Thank you for your reply, much appreciated. As a luthier, I know we are using templates for the production of certain parts of a particular instrument, but nevertheless, to arrive to such point there must be a calculation of a kind, to do perhaps, as you rightly observed, with the parabolic area, the division of it to a particular number of notes of a scale involved, to the "mass" and area of the tongue that produses a certain pitch, frequency. It is a very difficult area of research, as it requires knowledge of physics, acoustics and material science in order to get a greater understanding of the mechanics of musical instrument making. Thank you again for replying.
Three years old for you, new to me. And I wish I could upvote this many times. My tongue drum arrives in a day or so, after a very long overland trip from China... The anticipation is killing me, a bit like a first date, except now I have a hacksaw at the ready! Subscribed.
Thanks for the great info. I tuned my cheap D major tongue drum into a D harmonic minor simply by cutting the F# further down into an F. Sounds great; a little spooky and eerie, which is what I wanted.
Ty ty ty ssooo much. U took alot of stress off me!!! When u said that when I hit 1 note. There r others close enough that they will go off a Lil also. Man when I covered all but 1 and hit the note. The tuner app showed a specific note w every single one!!! Man I feel so much better
This is such a great video, thank you for linking to me! I don't know if you're on Facebook, but I have a group called Learning Steel Tongue Drum and I will post this there! I'm sure it will help a lot of people. I love your vibedrums btw, the shape on the tongues is so cool 😊
Thanks for doing that. I don't use Facebook but I know a lot of people use groups like that so thank you. .Yeah, that tongue shape on the Vibedrum is very unique but also easy to play because it gives you a larger area to hit.
Nice introduction. I wanted to add a few things I have done to help with the tuning One I have taken the bottom rubber thingy and I've pushed the tongue further out or further on. Also I have put the magnets inside the drum on the tongue much better than outside :) Great job !!
Thanks for watching. I have heard bending the tongue can tweak the pitch slightly. I've always been a bit leery of that method though. Glad to hear you've had luck with it. The magnet method seems to be the most popular but the hacksaw method is definitely the most tried and true.
What is your favorite steel tongue drum brand? Which has the richest sound? I agree with the 5 tongues. Thank you for this excellent and helpful video.
My two favorites are my Vibedrum and my Freezbee. I think they're both far superior to the mass-produced drums. Granted they're a lot more expensive but... you get what you pay for. One is really deep and resonant while the other is percussive and airy. I actually did a video where I compared the two here: ua-cam.com/video/Rz596koBdGM/v-deo.html
This video is so helpful! I recently obtained one and this information is definitely gonna help with moving on. The magnet idea is really cool but mine didn’t work with what I had.
Thanks for checking out the video. I'm glad it was helpful to you. I do these hoping they help somebody so it's always good to get a comment like this. I've got some more steel tongue drum videos coming this year.
Tuning by cutting or by magnets - both only lower the pitch. There are hardly any mentions of raising the pitch. If they're off because of poor quality control, it would seem that some would be higher and some would be lower than they should be. Someone mentioned cutting or filing the length of the tongue down to raise the pitch. Is it the length or mass that determines the pitch? If it's the mass, I'd rather remove material evenly around a tongue or drill holes in the tongue. I'd love to hear comments on this topic.
Thanks for watching. You are correct. Tuning is more or less a one-way street. Easy to lower pitch, but difficult to raise pitch. You can shorten the tongue as mentioned in the video and I suppose drilling holes in it may work as well (but I'm assuming there'd be a lot of trail & error in that process). If you look through the other comments on this video, Vernon from VibeDrums chimes in with some wisdom. Someone asks him about the size/shape/mass of the tongue and he has a pretty short answer (effectively saying it takes years to learn and it's not information he's willing to share). Honestly, I think tuning a steel tongue drum may be similar to tuning a didgeridoo... it's more art than science. Sure there is theory and formulas behind it, but ultimately you don't know how it's going to resonate until you play it.
I am harmonica player. This is the same as tuning harmonica reeds. Magnets only lower the pitch. My drum has several flat tongues. I'm going to try filing the bottom of the tongue ends so as to not mar it's appearance. Michael
I've always wanted a steel tongue drum, and I knew about scales, but there were things I learned that made me realize.... I'll just start a whole collection with different drums and different scales with different sizes LOL Thanks for the info!
Glad to help. And yes... you are correct... it's difficult to find one scale to do it all. You might want to check out the Idiopan drums. They have a magnet system that allows you to "tune" the drum so you can play multiple scales with a single drum. Thanks for watching.
magnets are also brilyant killing the ear splitting ring off your anvle when your on the forge in your shed making stuff!! theres some usless information for you, found you vid verry helpfull as i fancy makeing one and was just wondering what to tune it to also will space them out a bit too. thank you!!
I've been experimenting on my own with one I found at the flea Market I work at and I've noticed myself I prefer to use less of the notes personally so I'm excited to look into the 5 tone ones!
Good to hear. I find the pentatonic scales to be perfect for steel tongue drums. It's just so easy to improv and always have it sound good. I'd recommend looking at the Vibedrum and the Freezbee. Both are really great! Thanks for watching.
@@vintageguitarz1 Yes they are. That's literally in the first sentence of the video's description. LOL. Also, Wikipedia classifies the instrument as a "steel tongue drum" saying alternate names are "tank drum" and "hank drum". en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_tongue_drum
Thanks for watching the vid. When you say harmonic distortion, I'm assuming you're talking about striking one tongue and you get multiple notes so it doesn't sound clean. If that's the case, the only way to remedy that is to strike softer. I know a lot of tongue drum manufacturers try to cram a lot of notes in the available space and that's an unfortunate side effect. You might want to look at a heavier drum like the VibeDrum or Idiopan. They use thicker metals and space the tongues out further to prevent harmonic distortion.
I happen to have bought a 8 tone, 6 inch drum the other day, which seems to have been hand tuned. It only was 13 euros on Amazon. It seems you can get lucky I guess.
2:41 the tune is known as Mr Sandman, Bring me a Dream..... and the other one after cant remember it at all :( but Mr Sandman Im now singing in the back of my head.
Super useful! Do you know what type of saw blade and file to get? For the tuner I also learned from Ricky (ReWildYourSoul) that a spectral tuner should be used, not a guitar tuner that doesn’t show harmonic alignment. A strobe tuner I imagine should work as well.
I have a C and a D drum planning to lower the D into Db to make a chromatic pair. I'm also wanting to drop the range of each drum and add two tongues to the C. Which leaves me with 2 questions: 1. Can you make a shoulder cut in a tongue to incorporate more of the "dead space" into mass to lower the pitch, and 2. Do you know of a formula to calculate the area needed for a tongue by frequency, material type and thickness? I would appreciate any advice you can provide. 🪘
Thanks for checking out the video. I have never tried why you're suggesting (so I'm not sure how much help I can provide) but if you look at the majority of drums on the market the tongues don't get wider at the base. They typically get narrower or stay the same size. There's probably a reason for that. Vernon from VibeDrums (the second oldest manufacturer of steel tongue drums) has chimed in on this thread a couple times and he says finding the ideal shape/size of the tongues only comes from years of trail and error (and folks that understand it are generally unwilling to share that information). That makes sense to me. You might be able to figure out area with a formula... but that isn't going to tell you what it 'sounds' like. You won't know until you try it.
Advice? I was given a toungue drum, i love it! It's obv. mass produced but every note rang like a perfect chime! I'm a musician, i could just hear the F was a little off. Per instructions, it said push down on the toungue or push up fr. the inside & it will tune. I wasn't planning on playing w/anyone else i just wanted it in tune itself. Now, that F toungue is giving off a dissonant, vibration that's just unpleasant, everything else is still perfect. How do I fix this, or did I just ruin my drum?
I have heard people say bending a tongue is a way to tune it but I have never tried that personally. I think that seems really hard to predict and I wouldn't recommend it. If the tongue is now sharp, you can easily tune it with the hacksaw method shown in this video, if it's flat... that's a more difficult situation.
@@musicalmiscellany Thx for your response! I checked out a few videos on youtube, yours is the most informative & to the point, by far! I'll try this, the problem is it's not flat or sharp now, i can't get a reading bc it just vibrates & picks up other notes. It wasn't like that when I got it. You're right! I don't recommend pushing on any tongues to tune, no matter how many other ppl have said that incl. the instruction booklet. This is going to take alot of patience then to try to get this right. Thx again for your time:) -kim☮️
@@ksoliel9347 Ah gotcha. That's a major bummer. I'm not sure how you can fix that. I wonder if the metal lost some of its integrity and that's why it sounds weird. Sometimes bending metal can change the strength. You could try the hacksaw method and that may give it a more solid "base" but if the metal is stretched... it might not work. You might have to go all the way to an Eb to get it to sound right. That's a major letdown. Sorry that happened to you.
@@musicalmiscellany Thx for your honesty. I guess, Lesson of the day: Don't go messing with things before you know what you're doing!!!! Thx for everything:) kim. I wish you much success!!!
Let me just say that pushing up or down on the tongue is not such a great idea especially on the cheap mass produced drums...the reason is..is that you stress and weaken the metal (which is already thin) at the bottom of the note. This may cause the note to go "dead" or it may even break especially with low tensile strength steel. Think of a paperclip...eahc time you bend it it weakens the steel until eventually it breaks...hope that helps...vernon...viberdums
i just bought my first handpan 2 days ago, and one of the magnets from the inside came off and now the 6b tongue is all out of tune and i dont know what to do. there are 3 magnets on it and and cant figure out what i need to do to get that note back to normal. thanks for any help
Tuning with magnets can be a challenge sometimes. Download a tuner app (if you don't have one already) and slide the magnets around on the tongue. Keep moving them until it is in tune. As you move them closer towards the cut end of the tongue the pitch should get lower. Good luck.
Thanks for checking out the video. I could see that pairing working or clashing, it's really more about what you're playing and how they work together. Sorry, that's probably not the answer you wanted but I think any combination of instruments can be great or terrible. It's all subjective.
Hi there. Thanks for checking out the video. The red drum is a VibeDrum. I believe their website is www.vibedrums.com. I can't say enough good things about that company. Excellent service and amazing products. It really is a top notch drum.
Thanks so much just bought my first drum and love the sounds it makes but I don't have a number 4 tongue. It's a C I think as that's the number cut out in the bottom. Can you help at all? Thanks.
Thanks for checking out the video. That is a VibeDrum you're referencing. You can learn more about steel tongue drum pricing (for the VibeDrum and others by watching this vid: ua-cam.com/video/OAYLlJSOSOw/v-deo.html
Thanks for checking out the video. There is a bit of a rabbit hole here which you can dive into if you want. Yes, sound waves do move differently based on the temperature of the ambient air and yada yada yada. That's true of every instrument (or every sound) honestly. That's why I try to stress that it's more important for a drum to be in tune with itself than in tune with a reference pitch.
@@musicalmiscellany it might then be reasonable to bring it in tune after it has been in your lap for a while or brought up to handling body temperature otherwise. Bringing in this constant in the equation might let you mitigate for temperature fluctuations at least for a bit. With brass instruments and flutes you do the same.
I meant to add the harmonic distortion I'm getting on the last two notes is on a mass-produced one, if I can figure how to fix that it will sound ace! I also need to ask, what is the letter ‘i’ for there are 7 tongues of notes 1-7 and the 8th says ‘i ‘ rather than 8 any ideas why? And finally my booklet says I need to flatten the drum, is this right and by how much? I'd be grateful for any advice, thank you! Beccy
The letter i is synonymous with 1 in a musical context. The major scale has 7 notes and then it repeats so after 7 comes 1 (or i), 2, 3, etc. The i is just telling you that it's the same note as the 1 but higher in pitch. I've heard people say to flatten the tongues to help tune the drum but I personally would not try that. I've heard of people having success with this method but I've also heard of people ruining their drums with that method. You can tune a drum by changing the length of the tongue but you really can't change the sonic properties very easily.
@@musicalmiscellany My bad. You don't usually get a similar website when you typo the URL. Turns out I'm not such a fan of the vibedrums. I'm leaning towards Kosmosky or Nova, but also considering www.tankdrum.com. I like the longer sustain these brands have.
I recently purchased a large steel tongue drum with a diameter of 13 ½". It does something I can't explain. When I strike a tongue, and let the tone ring, as the vibrations begin to slow, the note goes sharp and will actually finish as much as ½ step higher than it should be. I can't find an explanation for that or a cure. But, I have noticed that each tongue has rounded corners at the top to the extent that it is semi circular. And, that the width of the tongue at that point, the diameter of that semicircle, is greater than the width of the tongue at the bottom. Could that be the problem? Every tongue on the drum is narrower at the "bottom" than it is at the "top". If I play a string of notes, each one of the starts to go sharp as the ringing diminishes and the sound is ... well, ... very sloppy, to be kind. Did I buy a lifetime of problems?
That is a rather odd behavior. I don't think the shape of the tongue should cause that. You don't mention the brand but some manufacturers include an "in tune" guarantee (within x cents of reference pitch). Unfortunately, the mass-produced drums often don't have a guarantee (but occasionally they do). If your drum was bought from a large retailer (e.g. Amazon, Walmart, etc), check their return policy. If the tuning issue really bothers you... I'd say just return the drum and get a different one. It doesn't seem like that issue is something you can fix. Again... you don't specify the brand, but it's been my experience that the mass-produced drums tend to be slightly out of tune (either across the scale or within the scale). If your ears are sensitive to this, you might want to look at a more expensive drum that includes a tuning guarantee (e.g. Vibedrum, Zen Percussion, etc). All of that said, if the drum is a little out of tune but it still sounds good (in context) when you play it... I wouldn't worry too much about it.
In that case you'll need to shorten the tongue just slightly. That will likely be difficult to do with a hacksaw. It might work better with a dremel and a grinding/cutting bit.
Thanks for watching the video. I'm not sure how long you've had the drum, but I'd check the merchant's return policy. A lot of stores have a 30-day no hassle return policy. If two of the tongues are dead... I'd probably just exchange it opposed to fixing it. You don't mention the manufacturer, but a lot of them offer warranties too. Any of the handmade drums (VibeDrum, Kosmosky, Zen, etc) will be fully warrantied. If it's a mass-produced model (Aklot, Ohuhu, Vexoom, etc), it may still have a limited warranty that covers defects. If you can't return/exchange it, sometimes tuning them to a different note (e.g. tune a G tongue down to a F#) will help with the resonance. Honestly though, it's often your best bet is to just get another drum.
@@sebastianmcshane9438 In that case, I'd try tuning it with the hacksaw method. In a best case... you get a cool new scale. In a worst case... it still sounds dead. Good luck.
Thanks for watching the video. When you say "tutorial", I'm assuming you mean a "how to play" tutorial? If so, I have not posted one of those videos. I think that's going to be a difficult video to make because teaching someone to play an Aklot drum (tuned in a major scale) would be very different from teaching someone to play a Freezbee drum (tuned in an Akebono scale). Being that there are so many different manufacturers, scales, sizes, tongue layouts... it's not going to be a "one size fits all" sort of video. There is a basic strike technique that's the same on all drums but beyond that... playing style changes based on the drum. I'm not sure if you have a particular brand/model picked out yet. If you do, it may be the best bet to find brand-specific tutorials. For instance, if you're sold on the Vibedrum, I'd check out Vibedrum's UA-cam channel for any playing videos. I think that's going to be more helpful than a general "how to play" video. Sorry for the long response to a simple question but I just don't think this one has an easy answer.
@@musicalmiscellany Makes perfect sense! Really appreciate your response. Thank you so much! I got a 12 inch steel tongue drum 11 notes - I have no idea how to find out what the scale is because it doesn't say on the manual.
@@natalieclarereadings Most of those 11 note 12" drums are tuned in C major or D major. You could download a tuning app on your smartphone and use that to confirm. A drum tuned in C major scale will contain C(1), D(2), E(3), F(4), G(5), A(6), & B(7) while a D major drum has D(1), E(2), F#(3), G(4), A(5), B(6), & C#(7). Most of them have the number stickers on the tongues that correspond with the scale degrees listed above. That should make it easier to figure out.
what are your thoughts on what might be some causes of tongue(s) to go out of tune? This last Sunday n Monday I took my steel tongue tank drum out with me to play in nature in the sunshine and I noticed within playing that throughout the drum the sounds were becoming duller. Later when I returned home to play on the drum where I was no longer in the sun/temp of approx 74 degrees faren- the quality/level of sound returned but then my ears slowly caught onto a high pitched backlash especially more noticeable on the second side of the drum that's tuned in D major.This peculiar sound is slowly fading away but now on both sides of the drum I feel there is multiple tongues that are giving off a different sound which is much different than what I've experienced. I downloaded the Carltone app but Iam not seeing yet how to navigate this app to check each tongue sound etc ( I do have notations from the maker KOMOSKY of the scales of each tongues tuning)
That sounds a little odd. You don't mention the manufacturer of the drum but I'd contact them to see if it's a common issue. Most companies have a support email where you can send questions. I can't say I've experienced anything similar. Typically the temperature shouldn't affect the steel, at least not permanently.
@@musicalmiscellany TY for your input. I contacted the maker/seller ( KOMOSKY) but unfortunately for now their feedback was minimal with only a suggestive app to CarlTune. I did view their (KOMOSKY) website to find a video with some care info that mentioned an importance to wipe the drum if its exposed to a moisture prominent environment. As I've played my drum here throughout today it seems the peculiar pitch sound is fading away and Iam not hearing the mutiple tongues to possibly be out of tune interestingly enough. At night Iam now keeping the drum away from my bedroom window in thoughts to avoid any possible excessive moisture in the air as Iam approx 5 miles or so from the ocean. Another thought is that when I took my drum along with me in nature to play in the recent surprise sunshine is that I transported the drum in my backpack and Iam wondering if somehow the drum tongues got adjusted by pressure? This is a 2 sided tuned 12" 30cm drum tuned in E minor+ D major=field scale.
@@smitty71ful It's possible the moisture could affect it. I have heard that bending the tongues can make them go out of tune, but I would think you'd see that if they were bent far enough to change the tuning. Good to hear it's sounding better after sitting for a bit.
@@musicalmiscellany It's a slow process and fingers crossed here that the tongues re-adjust back into tune. I think I might also try your suggestion of the videolink you shared from the gal that had some successful results by using the tiny magnets if my impatience takes over 😳
@@smitty71ful Wiping for moisture is only because Komosky drums are made from low carbon steel and will rust which can cause the drum to go out of tune...most people dont think about it..but have a look at the inside of your drum to see if it is rusting especially if you live in a high humidity environment
i dont understand why if more tounge spaceing makes the tone cleaner then why would they add redundant toungs, 7tones 7toungs seames to me the ideal design unless you went up to 12 so you could have 1 cromatic octave.
Having the same note in multiple octaves makes a big difference in what you can play. For instance, the VibeDrum shown in the video has 9 tongues but only 5 notes. 4 of the 5 notes are duplicated in octave (E, G, A, B, D, E, G, A & B). Having a 7-tongue drum tuned C, D, E, F, G, A, & B might be good for making some basic melodies - you can find some small drums tuned this way - but's it's probably not going to be a great drum for improvisational playing. You'd be better off with something like C, D, E, G, A, C, & E (the latter two being an octave higher) for improv. It might not seem intuitive on paper, but when you play the drum, it will feel more natural.
To put it in a nutshell using a 5 note pentatonic scale on a nine note drum means you get the scale almost twice in 2 different octaves. So starting with the lowest note and moving up you get the full 5 note scale then it repeats only one octave higher. On a vibedrum the first four notes of the scale are the 4 large notes around the outside of the drum. The 5th and last note of the scale is the note in the middle of the drum then the scale repeats an octave higher with the 4 small notes around the outside of the drum. You should also keep in mind that Steel tongue drums are Uni-Body instruments so as you play vibrations will build throughout the entire instrument. Unlike a stringed instrument or a brass instrument. So just because a 7 note scale sounds good on a stringed instrument does not mean it will on a steel tongue drum...So certain scales will not sound good especially as you begin to play harder and faster...and the vibrations, overtones and distortion builds
That's unfortunate. If you bought it from Amazon or one of the big stores, they usually have a "no hassle" return policy. See if you can get your money back and apply it towards a Vibedrum or a Freezbee or something like that. I always recommend folks who have a musical ear pay a little more for the drum because you'll typically be happier with it. You might wanna check out this video too: ua-cam.com/video/OAYLlJSOSOw/v-deo.html
Thanks for checking out the video. As I mention, I'm not the expert on this but I always thought magnets stick to iron. The video that put this idea in my head is linked in the description. Perhaps you should comment there.
That makes sense to me but as I mentioned, this is not my area of expertise. I was going by Molly's video (which I linked to in the description). She mention that different types of magnets work on different drums. I haven't tried it but I know some drums are magnetic and some are not. Thanks for checking it out.
This instrument was INVENTED here in the USA (California in fact) NOT China or India or Jamaica, and the INVENTOR Called it the TANK DRUM, NOT A "Tongue" Drum, because he made them from 2 opposite ends of a Propaine Tank!! STOP CALLING IT A "Tongue Drum" !!!!
Did you miss the onscreen note @ 9:04 (and the first sentence of the description)? Also, who said they were invented in India or China or Jamaica? I guess I missed that part. Thanks for checking out the video all the same.
Actually...the original design...was a freeware..download put out around 2005...can't remember who did it (pretty sure it was an American) but I don't think he was from California...however one of the first companies to sieze upon the freeware and put drum onto the market instead of homemade drums was Hapi-tones which is based in California. The first name for it was Tank Drum but at about the same time a lot of people were calling it a "Hank Drum (combining the name "Hang" from Panart with Tank. Over the naext several years different names were bandied about as makers were trying to get some type of name recognition for search engines and such...for a long time we all used Hang or Handpan because nobody knew what to search for...of course Panart put at end to that...so as we struggles and as the drums evolved (we stopped using propane tanks for vibedrums in 2011) the name Tank drum just did not gain traction...and most people have moved away from using propane tanks...so it seems as if tongue drum or steel tongue drum has gained enough popularity that it has become the dominate name. Being a long time maker of high quality drums to be honest I never did like the name "Tank Drum" it just does not have a good sound to it and it conveys the message that the drum has that "propane Tank ring" to it...which the drums made from propane tanks did and still do...anyway as a maker I don't really care what it is called just as long as people know what to look for...seems the market has decided upon Steel Tongue drum works for me!! cheers...vernon Vibedrums since 2008
@@Vibedrums-usa Well I guess we can put that argument to bed. Steel Tongue Drum it is. :-) Thanks for the history and insight from one of the original makers.
I put the chapters markers in the timeline and in the video's description to help people find what they are looking for. If you take a look at those, the section about how the tuning actually works starts at 6:50. The first minute or so is intro and the next 4 minutes discuss scales. So your objective statement is 100% correct. If you did not watch past 5 minutes you wouldn't have seen that content.
Okay...just catching up to this...Since I have been making Tongue drums longer than anybody in the market with the exception of Hapi-Tones let me put my 2 cents in here.
For harmonic distortion and out of tune notes and such on mass produced drum...you may be able to bring it in tune with a hacksaw blade...but the distortion is usually caused by poor note spacing...poor quality steel or a combination of the 2.
Tuning by bending tabs: DO NOT DO THIs!! especially on drums made from thin steel or drums made from old propane tanks. If your drum is made from an old propane tank and you are having troubles with it...it is usually because old propane tanks cannot be used for propane any more because they have failed their hydrostat test so the metal is brittle and usually riddled with stress cracks in addition it has thick and thin spots in it usually due to pitting and rust. Bending the tabs stresses and weakens the steel and may cause the note to go "Dead" or break off completely
Tuning with magnets. This is a bit of a pain...if you use a regular magnet it is usually not strong enough and will move around and can even cause the note to make a buzzing sound. For regular low carbon steel (mass produced drums, propane tank drums, etc) use "Earth Magnets" as they are very strong and won't move...the downside to magnets is they are a bit of a pain and sliding them around the surface of the drum will scratch it all up over time.
Tuning with a hacksaw blade: For the mass produced drums, propane tank drums or carbon steel drums any old blade will do just as long as it has 32 teeth per inch or more. My Vibedrums are made from 13 gauge (2.25 mm thick) Stainless Steel and you will need a special blade to cut due to its hardness and tensile strength.
Warning: Tuning is a one way street...you can decrease the frequency but cannot increase it without screwing up the look of the drum...so if you cut too much...you have to take it to the next lower note and may have to end up cutting all the notes to reduce the entire scale to the next one down. There is also a risk of the blade slipping out while cutting resulting in a major scratch along the top of your drum. If you could care less how your drum looks then the best and easiest way to Increase the frequency is by drilling one or several holes in the note around the top outside edge and working your way down the sides
TUNERS: okay so you want to bring your drum into tune. First tuners that attach to the drum are a "no go" due to the drum being a uni-body instrument. Second if you are using an app from an I-Phone there is not a single tuning app that accurately catches the frequency of a Steel tongue drums because you cannot adjust the microphone sensitivity on an i-phone so it picks up all the over-tones, distortions, background noises even the sound of an A/C unit in your house. For an Android phone I recommend the G-Strings or the Waves App but you need to play around with the settings to get it just right for your phone. You also need to find a way to quiet all the overtones from other notes (especially if there is poor note spacing) so that your tuner picks up the frequency of the note you are trying to tune and no other
Bad Faith actors: Here at Vibedrums we have had a customer or two over the years that have tried to change the tuning on their drum...and ended up messing it up...then they tried to return it as an "Out of Tune" drum...however since we keep records of the frequency and cut length of each and every drum we send we know what happened. So in a word or two: Tune at your own risk.
Alrighty then I think that covers most of it..hope it helps...vernon...vibedrums
A whole lot of good information there and believe me... this fella knows steel tongue drums. Thanks for the input Vernon.
Thank You, Vernon of VibeDrums & Thank You poorness studios!
I would like to ask you a question on the construction of this instrument if I may: a) how do you determine the size " diameter " of a tongue? i.e. of a semicircular top for example and the length of the tongue. b) Is there a formula determining the overall size of each individual note on the drum? Thank you in advance
@@theo9845 I have not built a steel tongue drum myself, but I have seen several videos of it being done. I appears most manufacturers have a series of templates they'll use to cut the tongues... use this template for A, this one for E, etc. So they'll cut those "default" tongues and then fine tune everything to pitch with a hacksaw blade or similar tool. I would imagine those templates come from a lot of trial and error (and possibly some formulas).
I'm assuming the shape of the tongue (round vs rectangular vs triangular) is mainly an aesthetic thing though I know Vibedrums uses their shape because they say it's easier to get a good sound. Ultimately it's the mass of the tongue that determines the pitch so two tongues with the same mass but different shapes should still ring at the same pitch. One may be easier to strike though.
Again, this is all theory. I've not done it in practice. Somebody out there may know more. Thanks for watching the video and asking a great question.
Thank you for your reply, much appreciated. As a luthier, I know we are using templates for the production of certain parts of a particular instrument, but nevertheless, to arrive to such point there must be a calculation of a kind, to do perhaps, as you rightly observed, with the parabolic area, the division of it to a particular number of notes of a scale involved, to the "mass" and area of the tongue that produses a certain pitch, frequency. It is a very difficult area of research, as it requires knowledge of physics, acoustics and material science in order to get a greater understanding of the mechanics of musical instrument making. Thank you again for replying.
Three years old for you, new to me. And I wish I could upvote this many times. My tongue drum arrives in a day or so, after a very long overland trip from China... The anticipation is killing me, a bit like a first date, except now I have a hacksaw at the ready! Subscribed.
Thanks for watching. Good luck with your new tongue drum. They're a lot of fun.
Thanks for the great info. I tuned my cheap D major tongue drum into a D harmonic minor simply by cutting the F# further down into an F. Sounds great; a little spooky and eerie, which is what I wanted.
Thanks for checking out the video and its awesome you were not intimidated to tune the drum yourself. Great work.
Ty ty ty ssooo much. U took alot of stress off me!!! When u said that when I hit 1 note. There r others close enough that they will go off a Lil also. Man when I covered all but 1 and hit the note. The tuner app showed a specific note w every single one!!! Man I feel so much better
@@TumTum-YumYum91 I’m glad the video was helpful. Thanks for checking it out.
Wow!! that was great and i actually followed all the way through. I'm one step closer to getting my first drum 😃
Awesome. I'm glad to hear it was helpful. Thanks for watching.
Thank you very much for all the info. The excellent tuning and pentatonic options can be worth buying a handmade tongue drum!
Thanks for watching. I have another video about how much to spend on a drum that you might also like. ua-cam.com/video/OAYLlJSOSOw/v-deo.html
Duuuude, this was SUPER informative, THANK YOU!!! 🙏🏼
No worries. I make these videos hoping they are helpful to somebody so I really appreciate your comment.
This is such a great video, thank you for linking to me! I don't know if you're on Facebook, but I have a group called Learning Steel Tongue Drum and I will post this there! I'm sure it will help a lot of people. I love your vibedrums btw, the shape on the tongues is so cool 😊
Thanks for doing that. I don't use Facebook but I know a lot of people use groups like that so thank you. .Yeah, that tongue shape on the Vibedrum is very unique but also easy to play because it gives you a larger area to hit.
@@musicalmiscellany Oh I didn't even think of that making it easier to play! What a great idea :D
Nice introduction. I wanted to add a few things I have done to help with the tuning
One I have taken the bottom rubber thingy and I've pushed the tongue further out or further on. Also I have put the magnets inside the drum on the tongue much better than outside :)
Great job !!
Thanks for watching. I have heard bending the tongue can tweak the pitch slightly. I've always been a bit leery of that method though. Glad to hear you've had luck with it. The magnet method seems to be the most popular but the hacksaw method is definitely the most tried and true.
Thanks for this information!
Professionell well done!
Thanks for watching and commenting. I’m glad it was helpful.
What is your favorite steel tongue drum brand? Which has the richest sound? I agree with the 5 tongues. Thank you for this excellent and helpful video.
My two favorites are my Vibedrum and my Freezbee. I think they're both far superior to the mass-produced drums. Granted they're a lot more expensive but... you get what you pay for. One is really deep and resonant while the other is percussive and airy. I actually did a video where I compared the two here: ua-cam.com/video/Rz596koBdGM/v-deo.html
@@musicalmiscellany I agree after listening to your videos. Awesome! Thanks.
Thank you for sharing all your helpful tips, we need more of this in the world! im going to use one for my class I think
I'm so glad it was helpful! I make these vids hoping they help somebody. You might like this one too... ua-cam.com/video/OAYLlJSOSOw/v-deo.html
I’m new at this tongue drum thing but you help me understand it and how to tune it I like your magnet idea👍🤠
Thanks for checking out the vid. I make these videos hoping they're helpful to someone so I really appreciate the feedback.
This video is so helpful! I recently obtained one and this information is definitely gonna help with moving on. The magnet idea is really cool but mine didn’t work with what I had.
Thanks for checking out the video. I'm glad it was helpful to you. I do these hoping they help somebody so it's always good to get a comment like this. I've got some more steel tongue drum videos coming this year.
@@musicalmiscellany right on! You have a nice collection so I’m excited for that!
Thanks! Very helpful!
Thanks for that. I make these videos hoping they help someone. I appreciate the feedback.
Super helpful. Thanks!
Thanks for watching. I always hope these videos will be helpful to someone. It's good to hear that it was.
Tuning by cutting or by magnets - both only lower the pitch. There are hardly any mentions of raising the pitch. If they're off because of poor quality control, it would seem that some would be higher and some would be lower than they should be. Someone mentioned cutting or filing the length of the tongue down to raise the pitch. Is it the length or mass that determines the pitch? If it's the mass, I'd rather remove material evenly around a tongue or drill holes in the tongue. I'd love to hear comments on this topic.
Thanks for watching. You are correct. Tuning is more or less a one-way street. Easy to lower pitch, but difficult to raise pitch. You can shorten the tongue as mentioned in the video and I suppose drilling holes in it may work as well (but I'm assuming there'd be a lot of trail & error in that process). If you look through the other comments on this video, Vernon from VibeDrums chimes in with some wisdom. Someone asks him about the size/shape/mass of the tongue and he has a pretty short answer (effectively saying it takes years to learn and it's not information he's willing to share).
Honestly, I think tuning a steel tongue drum may be similar to tuning a didgeridoo... it's more art than science. Sure there is theory and formulas behind it, but ultimately you don't know how it's going to resonate until you play it.
I am harmonica player. This is the same as tuning harmonica reeds. Magnets only lower the pitch. My drum has several flat tongues. I'm going to try filing the bottom of the tongue ends so as to not mar it's appearance. Michael
That’s correct. If you want to raise the pitch you need to make the tongue shorter, smaller, or otherwise lighter. Good luck.
I've always wanted a steel tongue drum, and I knew about scales, but there were things I learned that made me realize.... I'll just start a whole collection with different drums and different scales with different sizes LOL Thanks for the info!
Glad to help. And yes... you are correct... it's difficult to find one scale to do it all. You might want to check out the Idiopan drums. They have a magnet system that allows you to "tune" the drum so you can play multiple scales with a single drum. Thanks for watching.
magnets are also brilyant killing the ear splitting ring off your anvle when your on the forge in your shed making stuff!! theres some usless information for you, found you vid verry helpfull as i fancy makeing one and was just wondering what to tune it to also will space them out a bit too. thank you!!
I'm glad the video was helpful. Thanks for checking it out.
I've been experimenting on my own with one I found at the flea Market I work at and I've noticed myself I prefer to use less of the notes personally so I'm excited to look into the 5 tone ones!
Good to hear. I find the pentatonic scales to be perfect for steel tongue drums. It's just so easy to improv and always have it sound good. I'd recommend looking at the Vibedrum and the Freezbee. Both are really great! Thanks for watching.
It's CALLED a TANK DRUM by the INVENTOR here in California!!! Dopes!
@@vintageguitarz1 Yes they are. That's literally in the first sentence of the video's description. LOL.
Also, Wikipedia classifies the instrument as a "steel tongue drum" saying alternate names are "tank drum" and "hank drum". en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_tongue_drum
How do I resolve harmonic distortion I have on my last 2 tongues?
Thanks for watching the vid. When you say harmonic distortion, I'm assuming you're talking about striking one tongue and you get multiple notes so it doesn't sound clean.
If that's the case, the only way to remedy that is to strike softer. I know a lot of tongue drum manufacturers try to cram a lot of notes in the available space and that's an unfortunate side effect.
You might want to look at a heavier drum like the VibeDrum or Idiopan. They use thicker metals and space the tongues out further to prevent harmonic distortion.
I happen to have bought a 8 tone, 6 inch drum the other day, which seems to have been hand tuned. It only was 13 euros on Amazon. It seems you can get lucky I guess.
Sounds like you got a great deal. Thanks for watching.
good vid
Thanks for that feedback. I make these vids hoping they're helpful to someone else so it's always good to hear.
Excellent info!
Thanks for watching.
2:41 the tune is known as Mr Sandman, Bring me a Dream..... and the other one after cant remember it at all :( but Mr Sandman Im now singing in the back of my head.
I actually didn't realize it was Mr Sandman but you're right. It really does sound like it. Thanks for checking out the video.
Super useful! Do you know what type of saw blade and file to get?
For the tuner I also learned from Ricky (ReWildYourSoul) that a spectral tuner should be used, not a guitar tuner that doesn’t show harmonic alignment. A strobe tuner I imagine should work as well.
Ideally, you'd want a blade with 32 teeth per inch. That should be good to cut most any steel. Thanks for checking it out.
@@musicalmiscellany Thanks!
Thank you for explaining this. I don't have the money to throw away. I want a good one on a budget.
Thanks for checking out the video. Ultimately, everyone wants the best quality for the lowest price... but that is always a difficult trade off.
Gracias
@@anacc8837 thanks for watching.
I have a C and a D drum planning to lower the D into Db to make a chromatic pair. I'm also wanting to drop the range of each drum and add two tongues to the C. Which leaves me with 2 questions: 1. Can you make a shoulder cut in a tongue to incorporate more of the "dead space" into mass to lower the pitch, and 2. Do you know of a formula to calculate the area needed for a tongue by frequency, material type and thickness? I would appreciate any advice you can provide. 🪘
Thanks for checking out the video. I have never tried why you're suggesting (so I'm not sure how much help I can provide) but if you look at the majority of drums on the market the tongues don't get wider at the base. They typically get narrower or stay the same size. There's probably a reason for that.
Vernon from VibeDrums (the second oldest manufacturer of steel tongue drums) has chimed in on this thread a couple times and he says finding the ideal shape/size of the tongues only comes from years of trail and error (and folks that understand it are generally unwilling to share that information). That makes sense to me.
You might be able to figure out area with a formula... but that isn't going to tell you what it 'sounds' like. You won't know until you try it.
you have so many steel tongur drums!
Thanks for checking out the video. I've definitely got a few. I've got a couple more on the way too. LOL.
Advice? I was given a toungue drum, i love it! It's obv. mass produced but every note rang like a perfect chime! I'm a musician, i could just hear the F was a little off. Per instructions, it said push down on the toungue or push up fr. the inside & it will tune. I wasn't planning on playing w/anyone else i just wanted it in tune itself.
Now, that F toungue is giving off a dissonant, vibration that's just unpleasant, everything else is still perfect. How do I fix this, or did I just ruin my drum?
I have heard people say bending a tongue is a way to tune it but I have never tried that personally. I think that seems really hard to predict and I wouldn't recommend it. If the tongue is now sharp, you can easily tune it with the hacksaw method shown in this video, if it's flat... that's a more difficult situation.
@@musicalmiscellany Thx for your response! I checked out a few videos on youtube, yours is the most informative & to the point, by far! I'll try this, the problem is it's not flat or sharp now, i can't get a reading bc it just vibrates & picks up other notes. It wasn't like that when I got it. You're right! I don't recommend pushing on any tongues to tune, no matter how many other ppl have said that incl. the instruction booklet. This is going to take alot of patience then to try to get this right. Thx again for your time:) -kim☮️
@@ksoliel9347 Ah gotcha. That's a major bummer. I'm not sure how you can fix that. I wonder if the metal lost some of its integrity and that's why it sounds weird. Sometimes bending metal can change the strength. You could try the hacksaw method and that may give it a more solid "base" but if the metal is stretched... it might not work. You might have to go all the way to an Eb to get it to sound right. That's a major letdown. Sorry that happened to you.
@@musicalmiscellany Thx for your honesty. I guess, Lesson of the day: Don't go messing with things before you know what you're doing!!!! Thx for everything:) kim. I wish you much success!!!
Let me just say that pushing up or down on the tongue is not such a great idea especially on the cheap mass produced drums...the reason is..is that you stress and weaken the metal (which is already thin) at the bottom of the note. This may cause the note to go "dead" or it may even break especially with low tensile strength steel. Think of a paperclip...eahc time you bend it it weakens the steel until eventually it breaks...hope that helps...vernon...viberdums
i just bought my first handpan 2 days ago, and one of the magnets from the inside came off and now the 6b tongue is all out of tune and i dont know what to do. there are 3 magnets on it and and cant figure out what i need to do to get that note back to normal. thanks for any help
Tuning with magnets can be a challenge sometimes. Download a tuner app (if you don't have one already) and slide the magnets around on the tongue. Keep moving them until it is in tune. As you move them closer towards the cut end of the tongue the pitch should get lower. Good luck.
@@musicalmiscellany should any magnets be on top of one another?
@@AbyssalWaste001 Honestly, it really shouldn't matter. If it's in tune, it's in tune, but I would probably try to not stack them.
I wanna get one but I'm a bit nervous... do you think it would be a good combination with a piano during a session?
Thanks for checking out the video. I could see that pairing working or clashing, it's really more about what you're playing and how they work together. Sorry, that's probably not the answer you wanted but I think any combination of instruments can be great or terrible. It's all subjective.
Where can I purchase the Red 9 tongue 5 note drum?
Hi there. Thanks for checking out the video. The red drum is a VibeDrum. I believe their website is www.vibedrums.com. I can't say enough good things about that company. Excellent service and amazing products. It really is a top notch drum.
Thanks so much just bought my first drum and love the sounds it makes but I don't have a number 4 tongue. It's a C I think as that's the number cut out in the bottom. Can you help at all? Thanks.
Hmmm. Is 4 the only number that's missing? A major pentatonic scale (one of my faves) excludes the 4 and 7. It's actually pretty common.
What is the name brand of the red one and how much is it thank you
Thanks for checking out the video. That is a VibeDrum you're referencing. You can learn more about steel tongue drum pricing (for the VibeDrum and others by watching this vid: ua-cam.com/video/OAYLlJSOSOw/v-deo.html
@@musicalmiscellanythank you kindly for your response greatly appreciated Dan Bohland Onalaska Wisconsin
Isn't permanent tuning producing a range anyway? Due to temperature differences that is?
Thanks for checking out the video. There is a bit of a rabbit hole here which you can dive into if you want. Yes, sound waves do move differently based on the temperature of the ambient air and yada yada yada. That's true of every instrument (or every sound) honestly. That's why I try to stress that it's more important for a drum to be in tune with itself than in tune with a reference pitch.
@@musicalmiscellany it might then be reasonable to bring it in tune after it has been in your lap for a while or brought up to handling body temperature otherwise. Bringing in this constant in the equation might let you mitigate for temperature fluctuations at least for a bit. With brass instruments and flutes you do the same.
I meant to add the harmonic distortion I'm getting on the last two notes is on a mass-produced one, if I can figure how to fix that it will sound ace! I also need to ask, what is the letter ‘i’ for there are 7 tongues of notes 1-7 and the 8th says ‘i ‘ rather than 8 any ideas why? And finally my booklet says I need to flatten the drum, is this right and by how much? I'd be grateful for any advice, thank you! Beccy
The letter i is synonymous with 1 in a musical context. The major scale has 7 notes and then it repeats so after 7 comes 1 (or i), 2, 3, etc. The i is just telling you that it's the same note as the 1 but higher in pitch.
I've heard people say to flatten the tongues to help tune the drum but I personally would not try that. I've heard of people having success with this method but I've also heard of people ruining their drums with that method.
You can tune a drum by changing the length of the tongue but you really can't change the sonic properties very easily.
FYI - vibedrum.com only has snare/bass/tom drums now. No tongue drums, unless they're really well hidden.
Thanks for watching. The company's URL is vibedrums.com (plural not singular).
@@musicalmiscellany My bad. You don't usually get a similar website when you typo the URL. Turns out I'm not such a fan of the vibedrums. I'm leaning towards Kosmosky or Nova, but also considering www.tankdrum.com. I like the longer sustain these brands have.
@@dcaz9747 Glad to help. Good luck with your purchase.
I recently purchased a large steel tongue drum with a diameter of 13 ½". It does something I can't explain. When I strike a tongue, and let the tone ring, as the vibrations begin to slow, the note goes sharp and will actually finish as much as ½ step higher than it should be. I can't find an explanation for that or a cure. But, I have noticed that each tongue has rounded corners at the top to the extent that it is semi circular. And, that the width of the tongue at that point, the diameter of that semicircle, is greater than the width of the tongue at the bottom. Could that be the problem? Every tongue on the drum is narrower at the "bottom" than it is at the "top". If I play a string of notes, each one of the starts to go sharp as the ringing diminishes and the sound is ... well, ... very sloppy, to be kind. Did I buy a lifetime of problems?
That is a rather odd behavior. I don't think the shape of the tongue should cause that. You don't mention the brand but some manufacturers include an "in tune" guarantee (within x cents of reference pitch). Unfortunately, the mass-produced drums often don't have a guarantee (but occasionally they do). If your drum was bought from a large retailer (e.g. Amazon, Walmart, etc), check their return policy. If the tuning issue really bothers you... I'd say just return the drum and get a different one. It doesn't seem like that issue is something you can fix.
Again... you don't specify the brand, but it's been my experience that the mass-produced drums tend to be slightly out of tune (either across the scale or within the scale). If your ears are sensitive to this, you might want to look at a more expensive drum that includes a tuning guarantee (e.g. Vibedrum, Zen Percussion, etc). All of that said, if the drum is a little out of tune but it still sounds good (in context) when you play it... I wouldn't worry too much about it.
Whatt if I need to yune the tongue UP, make it higher? What would I do then?
In that case you'll need to shorten the tongue just slightly. That will likely be difficult to do with a hacksaw. It might work better with a dremel and a grinding/cutting bit.
@@musicalmiscellany oh thanks so much for such a quick reply!🙌 Ill follow your directions 👍
@@marina7061 Go slow and be careful. Good luck.
How can I fix two tongues that are dead sounding? I hit them all I get is a "thunk" sound and no tones.
Thanks for watching the video. I'm not sure how long you've had the drum, but I'd check the merchant's return policy. A lot of stores have a 30-day no hassle return policy. If two of the tongues are dead... I'd probably just exchange it opposed to fixing it.
You don't mention the manufacturer, but a lot of them offer warranties too. Any of the handmade drums (VibeDrum, Kosmosky, Zen, etc) will be fully warrantied. If it's a mass-produced model (Aklot, Ohuhu, Vexoom, etc), it may still have a limited warranty that covers defects.
If you can't return/exchange it, sometimes tuning them to a different note (e.g. tune a G tongue down to a F#) will help with the resonance. Honestly though, it's often your best bet is to just get another drum.
@@musicalmiscellany Thanks. I bought it at a yard sale, which is probably why they were selling it.
@@sebastianmcshane9438 In that case, I'd try tuning it with the hacksaw method. In a best case... you get a cool new scale. In a worst case... it still sounds dead. Good luck.
do you have some tutorial videos or can recommend a channel that does pls?
Thanks for watching the video. When you say "tutorial", I'm assuming you mean a "how to play" tutorial? If so, I have not posted one of those videos. I think that's going to be a difficult video to make because teaching someone to play an Aklot drum (tuned in a major scale) would be very different from teaching someone to play a Freezbee drum (tuned in an Akebono scale). Being that there are so many different manufacturers, scales, sizes, tongue layouts... it's not going to be a "one size fits all" sort of video. There is a basic strike technique that's the same on all drums but beyond that... playing style changes based on the drum.
I'm not sure if you have a particular brand/model picked out yet. If you do, it may be the best bet to find brand-specific tutorials. For instance, if you're sold on the Vibedrum, I'd check out Vibedrum's UA-cam channel for any playing videos. I think that's going to be more helpful than a general "how to play" video. Sorry for the long response to a simple question but I just don't think this one has an easy answer.
@@musicalmiscellany Makes perfect sense! Really appreciate your response. Thank you so much! I got a 12 inch steel tongue drum 11 notes - I have no idea how to find out what the scale is because it doesn't say on the manual.
@@natalieclarereadings Most of those 11 note 12" drums are tuned in C major or D major. You could download a tuning app on your smartphone and use that to confirm. A drum tuned in C major scale will contain C(1), D(2), E(3), F(4), G(5), A(6), & B(7) while a D major drum has D(1), E(2), F#(3), G(4), A(5), B(6), & C#(7). Most of them have the number stickers on the tongues that correspond with the scale degrees listed above. That should make it easier to figure out.
@@musicalmiscellany this is golden! thank you so much! yes i think it is C major!
what are your thoughts on what might be some causes of tongue(s) to go out of tune? This last Sunday n Monday I took my steel tongue tank drum out with me to play in nature in the sunshine and I noticed within playing that throughout the drum the sounds were becoming duller. Later when I returned home to play on the drum where I was no longer in the sun/temp of approx 74 degrees faren- the quality/level of sound returned but then my ears slowly caught onto a high pitched backlash especially more noticeable on the second side of the drum that's tuned in D major.This peculiar sound is slowly fading away but now on both sides of the drum I feel there is multiple tongues that are giving off a different sound which is much different than what I've experienced. I downloaded the Carltone app but Iam not seeing yet how to navigate this app to check each tongue sound etc ( I do have notations from the maker KOMOSKY of the scales of each tongues tuning)
That sounds a little odd. You don't mention the manufacturer of the drum but I'd contact them to see if it's a common issue. Most companies have a support email where you can send questions. I can't say I've experienced anything similar. Typically the temperature shouldn't affect the steel, at least not permanently.
@@musicalmiscellany TY for your input. I contacted the maker/seller ( KOMOSKY) but unfortunately for now their feedback was minimal with only a suggestive app to CarlTune. I did view their (KOMOSKY) website to find a video with some care info that mentioned an importance to wipe the drum if its exposed to a moisture prominent environment. As I've played my drum here throughout today it seems the peculiar pitch sound is fading away and Iam not hearing the mutiple tongues to possibly be out of tune interestingly enough. At night Iam now keeping the drum away from my bedroom window in thoughts to avoid any possible excessive moisture in the air as Iam approx 5 miles or so from the ocean. Another thought is that when I took my drum along with me in nature to play in the recent surprise sunshine is that I transported the drum in my backpack and Iam wondering if somehow the drum tongues got adjusted by pressure? This is a 2 sided tuned 12" 30cm drum tuned in E minor+ D major=field scale.
@@smitty71ful It's possible the moisture could affect it. I have heard that bending the tongues can make them go out of tune, but I would think you'd see that if they were bent far enough to change the tuning. Good to hear it's sounding better after sitting for a bit.
@@musicalmiscellany It's a slow process and fingers crossed here that the tongues re-adjust back into tune. I think I might also try your suggestion of the videolink you shared from the gal that had some successful results by using the tiny magnets if my impatience takes over 😳
@@smitty71ful Wiping for moisture is only because Komosky drums are made from low carbon steel and will rust which can cause the drum to go out of tune...most people dont think about it..but have a look at the inside of your drum to see if it is rusting especially if you live in a high humidity environment
i dont understand why if more tounge spaceing makes the tone cleaner then why would they add redundant toungs, 7tones 7toungs seames to me the ideal design unless you went up to 12 so you could have 1 cromatic octave.
Having the same note in multiple octaves makes a big difference in what you can play. For instance, the VibeDrum shown in the video has 9 tongues but only 5 notes. 4 of the 5 notes are duplicated in octave (E, G, A, B, D, E, G, A & B). Having a 7-tongue drum tuned C, D, E, F, G, A, & B might be good for making some basic melodies - you can find some small drums tuned this way - but's it's probably not going to be a great drum for improvisational playing. You'd be better off with something like C, D, E, G, A, C, & E (the latter two being an octave higher) for improv. It might not seem intuitive on paper, but when you play the drum, it will feel more natural.
To put it in a nutshell using a 5 note pentatonic scale on a nine note drum means you get the scale almost twice in 2 different octaves. So starting with the lowest note and moving up you get the full 5 note scale then it repeats only one octave higher. On a vibedrum the first four notes of the scale are the 4 large notes around the outside of the drum. The 5th and last note of the scale is the note in the middle of the drum then the scale repeats an octave higher with the 4 small notes around the outside of the drum.
You should also keep in mind that Steel tongue drums are Uni-Body instruments so as you play vibrations will build throughout the entire instrument. Unlike a stringed instrument or a brass instrument. So just because a 7 note scale sounds good on a stringed instrument does not mean it will on a steel tongue drum...So certain scales will not sound good especially as you begin to play harder and faster...and the vibrations, overtones and distortion builds
@@Vibedrums-usa Thanks for checking in Vernon. Excellent point about the unibody construction.
Tune by temperature, by candle
I'm not sure what that means but thanks for checking out the video.
I have a new tongue drum, mass produced… it’s untuned and since I’m a violinist, and a drummer…. I don’t even want to play /:
It sounds out of tune 😩
That's unfortunate. If you bought it from Amazon or one of the big stores, they usually have a "no hassle" return policy. See if you can get your money back and apply it towards a Vibedrum or a Freezbee or something like that. I always recommend folks who have a musical ear pay a little more for the drum because you'll typically be happier with it. You might wanna check out this video too: ua-cam.com/video/OAYLlJSOSOw/v-deo.html
Are we playing bass clef yes it is important
I don't know how to read sheet music so I couldn't tell you for sure.
Fkn Ricky Bobby over here..."I don't know what to do with my hands"...jeezus...
Great reference. I love that movie.
No, different magnets do not stick to different metals.
Thanks for checking out the video. As I mention, I'm not the expert on this but I always thought magnets stick to iron. The video that put this idea in my head is linked in the description. Perhaps you should comment there.
@@musicalmiscellany
Magnets stick to ferrous metals, which is any metal that contains iron. All magnets work on the same materials.
All magnets stick to iron. If the drum is made of brass or aluminum or some other non-iron metal no magnet will stick to it. LOL 😂
That makes sense to me but as I mentioned, this is not my area of expertise. I was going by Molly's video (which I linked to in the description). She mention that different types of magnets work on different drums. I haven't tried it but I know some drums are magnetic and some are not. Thanks for checking it out.
This instrument was INVENTED here in the USA (California in fact) NOT China or India or Jamaica, and the INVENTOR Called it the TANK DRUM, NOT A "Tongue" Drum, because he made them from 2 opposite ends of a Propaine Tank!! STOP CALLING IT A "Tongue Drum" !!!!
Did you miss the onscreen note @ 9:04 (and the first sentence of the description)? Also, who said they were invented in India or China or Jamaica? I guess I missed that part. Thanks for checking out the video all the same.
Actually...the original design...was a freeware..download put out around 2005...can't remember who did it (pretty sure it was an American) but I don't think he was from California...however one of the first companies to sieze upon the freeware and put drum onto the market instead of homemade drums was Hapi-tones which is based in California.
The first name for it was Tank Drum but at about the same time a lot of people were calling it a "Hank Drum (combining the name "Hang" from Panart with Tank. Over the naext several years different names were bandied about as makers were trying to get some type of name recognition for search engines and such...for a long time we all used Hang or Handpan because nobody knew what to search for...of course Panart put at end to that...so as we struggles and as the drums evolved (we stopped using propane tanks for vibedrums in 2011) the name Tank drum just did not gain traction...and most people have moved away from using propane tanks...so it seems as if tongue drum or steel tongue drum has gained enough popularity that it has become the dominate name. Being a long time maker of high quality drums to be honest I never did like the name "Tank Drum" it just does not have a good sound to it and it conveys the message that the drum has that "propane Tank ring" to it...which the drums made from propane tanks did and still do...anyway as a maker I don't really care what it is called just as long as people know what to look for...seems the market has decided upon Steel Tongue drum works for me!! cheers...vernon Vibedrums since 2008
@@Vibedrums-usa Well I guess we can put that argument to bed. Steel Tongue Drum it is. :-) Thanks for the history and insight from one of the original makers.
You talk way too much. You repeat yourself way too much. You talk too much You repeat yourself way too much.
I think you left out a punctuation mark and a "way". Thanks for watching the video though.
5 minutes in and still haven't spoken a word about how the tuning works... terrible.
I put the chapters markers in the timeline and in the video's description to help people find what they are looking for. If you take a look at those, the section about how the tuning actually works starts at 6:50. The first minute or so is intro and the next 4 minutes discuss scales. So your objective statement is 100% correct. If you did not watch past 5 minutes you wouldn't have seen that content.