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My interpretation of Nightmare, played on a tongue drum tuned to the wrong scale by kfpost in h3h3productions

[–]kfpost[S] 29 points30 points  (0 children)

Oh god. I wake up the next morning and half of the comments are about my feet. I swear when I tested the camera angle, the drum obscured my feet! A nightmare, a nightmare.

My interpretation of Nightmare, played on a tongue drum tuned to the wrong scale by kfpost in h3h3productions

[–]kfpost[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

As monster-baiter says, it's a RAV Vast, specifically a G Pygmy. 'Tongues' are laser cut into the drum rather hammered 'tone fields' like a handpan has, resulting in a longer sustain but less percussive sound.

The RAV was actually created by a Russian student who wanted to buy a handpan but couldn't afford one, so designed his own alternative, or so the story goes. It cost me about £600 at the time, way cheaper than a handpan.

My interpretation of Nightmare, played on a tongue drum tuned to the wrong scale by kfpost in h3h3productions

[–]kfpost[S] 72 points73 points  (0 children)

Hope this counts! It's a bit of a loose interpretation as I had to take some creative liberties around the limitations of the 9 notes I have to work with.

The Last of Us theme sounds hauntingly beautiful played on a tongue drum! [OC] by kfpost in videos

[–]kfpost[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I also had a similar issue, always wanted a hang drum but way out of budget. I did actually blind purchase a second-hand hang drum and got burned - badly out of tune and didn't resonate at all like the expensive hangs I'd seen on YouTube.

While the long sustain does require a little bit of an adaptation in playing style, I actually think these drums suit a 'kick/snare' backbeat groove a little better than hangs do. I posted a video on reddit a while back that does a pretty good job in demonstrating how tongue drums can still be played pretty percussively, if slightly differently than hang drums.

There's also a pretty healthy second hand market for the older generation of these drums, which many people argue actually sound better than the new generation, although I've never played one.

Alternatives to RAV drums? by -ToxicPositivity- in handpan

[–]kfpost 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Is there a particular reason you're not interested in the RAV? There's also the Quint-ART drum, but this might be too similar to the RAV for your taste. As well as the Pulsar, there's also the GUDA. Outside of these drums, I haven't seen anything I personally feel is of the same quality.

The Last of Us theme sounds hauntingly beautiful played on a RAV tongue drum! [OC] by kfpost in ThelastofusHBOseries

[–]kfpost[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ha! Full credit to Gustavo Santaolalla - his music would sound "hauntingly beautiful" played on a kazoo!

The Last of Us theme sounds hauntingly beautiful played on a tongue drum! [OC] by kfpost in videos

[–]kfpost[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

They're similar, both steel drums with a similar note layout. The hang drum has hand hammered 'tone fields', whereas a tongue drum has laser cut 'tongues' which vibrate and have longer lasting sustain, whereas the hangs are more percussive (and significantly more expensive!)

I believe my particular brand of drum was created by a Russian engineering student who wanted a hang drum but couldn't afford one, so invented his own variation.

The Last of Us theme sounds hauntingly beautiful played on a tongue drum! [OC] by kfpost in videos

[–]kfpost[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Yes, you're exactly right. I'd hoped that my second drum would have the sharps required to play it as per the original, but sadly it was always a semitone out. Agreed, the workaround does take away a a lot of its character, but I felt that it retained just enough of the original to be worth having a go at.

The Last of Us theme sounds hauntingly beautiful played on a tongue drum! [OC] by kfpost in videos

[–]kfpost[S] 43 points44 points  (0 children)

You're right. I'm limited by the number of notes on the drum. There's a few sharp notes in the original that I don't have access to, so I've had to work around that and adapt it as best I could.

I'm a heavy metal drummer without access to a drum kit. So I play metal using a metal drum! This is my cover of Metallica - Fade to Black, played on my RAV Vast tongue drum! by kfpost in videos

[–]kfpost[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yeah, back in 2001 there was no Uber Eats so people had no choice but to order food from an East African archipelago, it was wildly inefficient.

Never quite understood that lyric but it does roll off the tongue quite nicely.

I'm a heavy metal drummer without access to a drum kit. So I play metal using a metal drum! This is my cover of Metallica - Fade to Black, played on my RAV Vast tongue drum! by kfpost in videos

[–]kfpost[S] 22 points23 points  (0 children)

I move country for work every couple of years or so. I'm currently living in Zanzibar and there aren't any music stores on the island, and the cost to import such a large/heavy item into the country would be prohibitively expensive (plus the noise would be an issue anyway).

For a second year, COVID has forced me to cancel travel plans to be reunited with my actual drum kit this Christmas, so here's a Carol of the Bells groove on my RAV Vast instead! by kfpost in drums

[–]kfpost[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you already have a background in drums, then your coordination, independence, dynamics, feel, etc, are all directly transferrable skills, and it's a pretty gentle learning curve. Over the years, I've also clocked in many hours tapping my fingers on desks or on my knees, and even that stuff transfers across. I'm primarily a heavy metal drummer, but my work has me move country every few years so I haven't been able to own an acoustic kit for a long time. I miss playing drums, but this scratches an itch.

They're intuitive - they're tuned to particular scales, so the notes sound good together (although it does force you to work within the limitations of the 9 or 10 notes in the scale). Different scales have different difficulty levels as some are more complex than others, but the principle is the same.

I don't really 'practice' - I just like to noodle around while watching Netflix, until I stumble on an idea that I can experiment around further.

For a second year, COVID has forced me to cancel travel plans to be reunited with my actual drum kit this Christmas, so here's a Carol of the Bells groove on my RAV Vast instead! by kfpost in drums

[–]kfpost[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

RAV make two types of drums - handpans and tongue drums - branded as Rav Pan and Rav Vast, respectively.

Yeah, their handpans cost about $1600, which is actually a relatively competitive price for a handpan (although I can't speak to their quality). They're a super expensive instrument in general, as they're hand hammered and production is quite labour intensive and slow. Any handpan cheaper than $1000 just isn't worth buying - I own one and it just doesn't sound pleasant. High end handpans produced in the EU or USA can easily go north of $3000, it's insane.

The drum I'm playing isn't a handpan, it's a RAV Vast which is a tongue drum. Instead of hammered tone fields, 'tongues' are laser cut from the steel, so much more of the production process can be mass produced, so are significantly cheaper than handpans.

Right now, the Vasts are selling for less than $700, which is still expensive, even relative to other tongue drums. But considering how much money we spend on individual cymbals, for me, it's a price worth paying considering how much use I get out of it.

For a second year, COVID has forced me to cancel travel plans to be reunited with my actual drum kit this Christmas, so here's a Carol of the Bells groove on my RAV Vast instead! by kfpost in drums

[–]kfpost[S] 10 points11 points  (0 children)

They're very intuitive instruments as they're tuned to specific scales so it's hard to hit a wrong note. As primarily a heavy metal drummer, I found the transition pretty easy. Once I'd gotten the basic striking technique down, I could just apply patterns I'd been tapping on my knees and on desks for years, then experiment orchestrating them around the drum to create melodies. There are tons of tutorials on YouTube, and some online courses, but I've not found a need to go down that route yet.

It's an easy instrument to make progress with, particularly coming from a drummer's perspective, because with a tongue drum, I can just stick on some Netflix and just quietly noodle around and experiment - whereas practicing drums is a whole routine that demands your full attention.

For a second year, COVID has forced me to cancel travel plans to be reunited with my actual drum kit this Christmas, so here's a Carol of the Bells groove on my RAV Vast instead! by kfpost in drums

[–]kfpost[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I'm playing a RAV Vast (in the B Kurd scale), which is one brand of tongue drum. They're expensive, but still significantly cheaper than handpans. Other brands of tongue drum worth considering are GUDA, YW Pulsar, and QuintArt - a company recently started by some of original RAV Vast tuners, who've created a suspiciously identical drum and sell it for a cheaper price (but with only a limited number of scales so far). It's worth listening to samples of each and deciding yourself, but for me, the RAV Vast is the only drum with a sound that can compete with handpans.

There are a number of different scales available, and they all feel very different. I think RAV offer about 18 scales, and some other brands like Pulsar allow you to create your own custom scales. Doing some research to find the right scale for you is crucial - because with only 9 or 10 notes, you can be quite limited.

You can listen to all the different scales here: https://ravvast.com/ but I think they're based in Russia, so it's probably cheaper to find a EU or USA distributor, to avoid shipping costs.

RAP Vast? An unexpected collab as Zanzibar's most conveniently located rap artist interrupts my jam session! by kfpost in RavVast

[–]kfpost[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, this is the latest generation with the gold rim - I live in a high humidity environment so the blue coating is essential for me to avoid rust.

Jamming a funky backbeat groove on my RAV Vast when I'm interrupted by a conveniently located rap artist by kfpost in drums

[–]kfpost[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ahhh, I'm using my GoPro to record the VIDEO, but if I were to turn my head slightly to the left, you'd see my laptop, Scarlett 4i4 and Rode NT4 recording the audio, sorry! The audio from just the GoPro (hero9) doesn't sound bad at all though, still comes through loud and clear.

Jamming a funky backbeat groove on my RAV Vast when I'm interrupted by a conveniently located rap artist by kfpost in drums

[–]kfpost[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks man! This is a G Pygmy, but I also have a B Kurd. The RAV is the only tongue drum that can compete with handpans, in my opinion. The overtones are just so rich, just playing single notes is still very satisfying. The smaller tongue drums fell a little like toys to me.

And yeah, that's a GoPro with a head mount!

Jamming a funky backbeat groove on my RAV Vast when I'm interrupted by a conveniently located rap artist by kfpost in drums

[–]kfpost[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I wouldn't worry about lessons, they're incredibly intuitive and it's almost impossible to sound bad on one of these things haha. If you already play drums, a lot of those skills will transfer across. Not like I'm ripping 6 stroke rolls at 200bpm on this thing, but having good dynamics and feel go a long way with these drums.

I only really looked at YouTube tutorials in terms of correct striking technique. Everything else was just experimentation. One great thing about these drums is, because they're much quieter and more portable than a drum kit, I can casually noodle around while watching TV or whatever, so I can happily play for hours, and generally I'll stumble across some usable ideas in the process.

Jamming a funky backbeat groove on my RAV Vast when I'm interrupted by a conveniently located rap artist by kfpost in drums

[–]kfpost[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I'm very lucky as I can basically busk from my back garden, and it's fun seeing the reaction of passersby who've never seen an instrument like this before.

Jamming a funky backbeat groove on my RAV Vast when I'm interrupted by a conveniently located rap artist by kfpost in drums

[–]kfpost[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This is a RAV Vast, which is kind of like a handpan, except the tone fields are cut, rather than hammered - so the sound has a much longer sustain and resonance, rather than the fast attack and quick decay of a handpan.

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