Hang

[Peter Korsten]

Op 22-11-2010 20:18, K9 Kai Niggemann schreef:

> Hm, I thought it was quite over the top to tell people what they should or shouldn't do with the Hang in a musical sense. But making a contract where they have the right to buy it back from you in case you want to get rid of it, instead of grossly inflating used Hang prices on ebay -- I think that is a good and very anti-capitalist thing to do.

They actually want to control that, too? They must be on something that 
is illegal even in Switzerland.

It may be anti-capitalist, but it's extremely anti-libertarian - and 
that irks me. And although James has already perfectly summarised my 
feelings about the hang, let me give my own take on it.

There's this whole mystique around the hang, like it's the best thing 
ever, and you reach some kind of higher phase of existence once you've 
mastered the thing. You even have to take a long journey that ends up on 
the mountain (Switzerland) to acquire it, as if it were some mythical quest.

But I maintain it's a glorified steel drum, although one with a much 
more limited range. In fact, it's a percussion instrument. And all this 
makes it, for me, the ultimate poser instrument. Perhaps you can play it 
as percussion, or busking in a street wearing a Che Guevara T-shirt and 
a knitted hat. But on its own, its limitations make it practically useless.

If you compare that with traditional instruments, some of which came 
into being by somebody sticking a pipe in a dead goat, to me it comes 
along as something artificial.

Yes, the sound is lovely, but so is the sound of uillean pipes, and 
those you can play without all this control-freak hullabaloo. Match it 
with a synthesiser and you have a mesmerising performance.

> They say they can only make so many, demand is way higher, but they don't want a black market or raise the price.
>
> I think that's reasonable.

No, it is not reasonable. It's not reasonable to expect everybody to 
play to your rules. If you want that, go live in a commune in Bhutan or 
something.

> Controlling what and where people play it is a classic case of what buddhists call "attachment" and work hard to get rid off.

It's sad, really. The only way you can let something bloom is by letting 
it go. Hands up, all those who didn't make a leap forward when they 
became independent.

- Peter