No, it’s not from India, Nepal or China, the hang is in fact a recent Swiss innovation from 2001. Felix Rohner & Sabina Schärer worked for several years on breathing life into their idea of a hand-played steeldrum and the result is definitely a success!

The cosmic tunes of the hang remind many people of the harp or even the piano, yet it has more to it. Sensitive people can feel the hangmusic flow through their bodies, like a soothing massage.

To some it feels like a sound that must always have been part of our world, not like a new instrument but like something rather ancient.I personally like the idea of a lost tone that has been rediscovered.

Hangs are available in different keys and every instrument is unique in its own way. When I was in Switzerland to buy my hang, I tried out about 15-20 hangs before I found “the one” that was mine. I guess the hang finds the hangplayer, just like the wand finds the wizard.

By the way, the name hang comes from the Bern word for hand. I play the hang with my hands as well as soft sticks in order to get different sounds out of it.