The Korg Wavedrum Meets the Hang Drum - Creating a Digital Hang

There’s something interesting going on over at the KorgForums, where a group of Wavedrum enthusiasts have set themselves the challenge, of trying to reproduce the sound of the PANArt Hang, on their ‘dynamic percussion synthesisers’.

Looking like a futuristic Conga, the Wavedrum is a programmable, heavily customisable, electronic instrument. That has won numerous awards, and has drawn international praise for its organic interface, realism, and comprehensive arsenal of percussion sounds from around the globe. It's kind of like the old electric drum kits many of us would have had as kids, brought up-to-date, with a highly responsive, sensitive playing surface, and far more realistic sounds.
However, despite the Wavedrum’s awesomeness. Recreating the sound of the Hang has proven to be difficult, even for the makers of some of the new wave of HandPan. So reproducing the complexities of the PANArt Hang’s tones in electronic format, was never going to be easy. And while (see video) the sound achieved so far isn’t perfect, it seems fair to say that the sound is Hang reminiscent. And being still a work in progress, it’s certainly an effort to be applauded.

If you’d like to join the challenge, you can buy yourself a Korg Wavedrum: . Or if you’re already a Wavedrum owner, head on over to the Korg Forums: HERE.  And see what YOU can come up with.
© HandPans Magazine