• Torbz
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  • Registered: 2007-07-05
  • Posts: 242

Topic: Ding dong, it's gone wrong!

I was jamming with two other Hang players at the weekend, and was playing with the Hang on it's side (vertical) and doing percussive slaps and udu on the Gu side with finger taps on the Ding.

The metal was cold at the start as it had been sitting in the car for the evening, in our typical british summer evening climate (about 8 degrees celcius!).

after 10 mins of moderate playing, the Ding was completely de-tuned! I freaked thinking that I'd been squeezing it too hard between my legs in throngs of Hang heaven - but it wasn't that at all. The ding was a semitone lower (a C sharp) and I was starting to worry.

I left it sitting for a few hours at room temperature and, thank god, it went back to normal.

It makes me wonder why the temperature changes can seem to have such an effect on the steel/brass mixture. I was wondering if the steel expands or contracts at a different rate to the steel, and that that might be the cause of such dramatic de-tuning with temperature change.

Does anybody have any experience/information in this area that might support this theory? does it happen with the MK1 Hangs?

Would be interesting to find out... smile

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  • Registered: 2008-08-29
  • Posts: 3

Re: Ding dong, it's gone wrong!

As a steelpan player (the instruments are cousins, really!) I notice my pan sounds sort of brittle in the cold, and a bit more tinny than usual. The great danger is playing it in direct hot sun. The notes go flat in pitch and "boing-y" in timbre and if you are playing hard they will de-tune and can remain that way even when the instrument cools down. I am careful to try and keep my pans at a fairly constant room-temperature, never next to a radiator or in direct sunshine, or in a hot car. If they do get hot I leave them to cool down before playing.

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  • Rob
  • Likes To Hang In
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  • Registered: 2007-07-06
  • Posts: 51

Re: Ding dong, it's gone wrong!

Torbz wrote:

I was jamming with two other Hang players at the weekend, and was playing with the Hang on it's side (vertical) and doing percussive slaps and udu on the Gu side with finger taps on the Ding.

The metal was cold at the start as it had been sitting in the car for the evening, in our typical british summer evening climate (about 8 degrees celcius!).

after 10 mins of moderate playing, the Ding was completely de-tuned! I freaked thinking that I'd been squeezing it too hard between my legs in throngs of Hang heaven - but it wasn't that at all. The ding was a semitone lower (a C sharp) and I was starting to worry.

I left it sitting for a few hours at room temperature and, thank god, it went back to normal.

It makes me wonder why the temperature changes can seem to have such an effect on the steel/brass mixture. I was wondering if the steel expands or contracts at a different rate to the steel, and that that might be the cause of such dramatic de-tuning with temperature change.

Does anybody have any experience/information in this area that might support this theory? does it happen with the MK1 Hangs?

Would be interesting to find out... smile

Core bet that got your heart going torbz smile i get a slight change in hot weather but not so much in cold, but saying that it does play differently in cold not so responsive but the notes do not change!!!! as for Mk 1 hang i can only say what kelly has said before temp does effect it but it always goes back smile as at hang music dude smile

You go playing on the side personally i much prefer the sounds I get from playing ding side and gu side together smile

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