Playing The Hang
The Hang is typically played resting on the player's lap. The Hang is generally played with the hands and fingers instead of mallets. This lighter playing tends to produce a complex overtone-rich sound that could be considered 'softer' and 'warmer' than the 'bright' sound of a mallet based traditional steelpan.
The top ("Ding") side of the Hang, depending on how it is played, can sound like a harp, bells, or harmonically tuned steelpans. The notes are laid out in a cross pattern in the 'tone circle' from low to high so that with a specific orientation of the Hang, the player can ascend or descend the 'scale' by alternating using the left and right hands to strike the 'tone fields'. Each tone field has multiple overtones oriented specifically in the flattened field with a dome at the center. Typically there is a fundamental tone, an overtone tuned to an octave above that fundamental, and an additional overtone a fifth above that octave (twelfth/tritave). The orientation is fairly consistent across the fields on each Hang so that the overtones can be highlighted, muted, or extracted based on how and where the player strikes the tone field.
The 'bottom' (Gu side) of the Hang has ghatam/udu-like properties using the Helmholtz resonance that occurs within the clamped shallow shells. In the 2nd Generation and Integral Hang adjustment of the size of the opening of the Gu 'hole' (by partially blocking it with either a hand, or the legs) can generate a sympathetic D2 from the Helmholtz resonance that activates subtle layers of cross complexities in the resonance of the instrument as notes are played on the Ding side. In the 1st and 2nd Generation models there is a single high note with a long sustain that can be generated by striking the rim of the hole on the 'Gu' side. In the Integral Hang there are two notes that can be generated (F and F#). The Hang can also be used as a friction idiophone. Shaker like sounds can be made by sliding a hand across the surface, and it can also ring like a singing bowl by using skin (a hand) or a bow.
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