AM Drum

I ran into a friend of mine at a gathering yesterday who had just returned from south-west France.  He had brought back this wonderful instrument which he described as a poor man's Hang drum.  I had a brief play on it and was entranced.  It was more than sitting outside, post-sauna, in the sunshine on a warm Spring-like day.  There was nothing impoverished about this drum, reminiscent of a steel pan but with a more rounded, bell-like tone.

Made from two gas bottle bases welded together it is one of the best pieces of recycling I have ever come across. The tongues are cut by hand with a hacksaw.  Apparently the makers tried using machine tools but it ruined the tone of the instrument.

There is a Facebook page for the drum.  You don't need to sign in or have a Facebook account to view it: http://en-gb.facebook.com/pages/AM-Drums/168619476501078?v=photos&sk=info 

There are also some clips on Youtube such as the one below.  In this clip the drum is tuned to what they call 'Oriental'. (I can't think why but I'm not letting that bother me.)  Anyway, it's the scale to which the drum in the picture is tuned.

I suspect that in the current economic climate schools won't be investing in these at about 120 euros a pop but they appear to be virtually indestructible and so represent very good value.