A tank drum is a steel tongue drum that allows any person, regardless of age or gender, to educate the ear and develop a good sense of rhythm on their own. All it takes you is to listen to yourself and rely on your intuition.
The first video featuring tank drums appeared on the Internet in 2007. The mastermind behind this instrument was Felle Vega, a Spanish percussionist, who unveiled a prototype of a tank drum named Tambiro in one of his interviews. At that time it had the form of just a few petals cut on the bottom of a propane tank. Thus, the musician clearly showed that any ordinary thing can have some cosmic sound.
Now a tank drum is made from two steel bowls that are welded together. Petals or so-called tongues of various sizes are cut on the top shell and produce different sounds. There is a hole in the bottom shell which lets the sound out. In fact, it’s not that difficult to make a tank drum, and it can be created by anyone who has an angle grinder, a jigsaw and a strong desire to make something unusual and beautiful.
Some people consider tank drums a handpan analog.
Here
is the interview in which a tank drum prototype was featured:
The
music begins to sound as soon as you touch
the tank drum petals with the fingers or sticks mallets.
It happens because the tongues resonate at thumping and banging, and spread vibrations around when someone is playing the tank drum. Each petal is tuned to a particular note. Combinations of certain notes make up chords in a particular tone, in other words, they create some musical mood shades.
There is a variety of tank drum tuning and each mode expresses a certain mood: it can be light, cheerful, serene, enthusiastic and invigorating or mournful, pensive, disturbing, mystical and quiet. The mood can be supplemented with ethnic themes: Indian, Russian, Japanese, Arabic, Greek and other ones.
Tank drum sound also depends on its size: small instruments have ringing sound and a high tone, and large ones produce deep sound and rich bass.
In addition, a tank drum can have its own «face» which is found due to engraving. It can be engraved with geometric fractals, patterns, symbols and animals, and even portraits, landscape drawings and so on.
Everyone can undoubtedly find a tank drum sound to their own liking and easily learn to create their own musical compositions. Moreover, you can play the tank drum without any music education and training.
A tank drum provides a great musical therapy which helps you relieve stress, meditate and be in the privacy of your own mind, dissolving your thoughts in the flow of sound.
When playing the tank drum, many people noticed that their pulse and heart rate became smooth and calm, and the solution of a complicated issue or the way out of a difficult situation was naturally found. Pregnant women pointed out that tank drum sounds evoke positive emotions and tranquility, and their unborn children calm down or demonstrate some pleasant activity by contrast. Tank drums are often used by many music therapists who are convinced that the sound of this instrument not only helps to elicit some potential, but also becomes a means of self-expression and communication of people with mental health problems. All in all, a tank drum is a great way of communication that gets together and attracts extraordinary people.
Smoother
or sharper, stronger or weaker, quieter or louder – it’s up to you to decide
how to play, as it depends on your state here and now. So don't be afraid of
experimenting and you will definitely succeed!
