Friday, 4 March 2016

Writing Music: Sam's Dance

I usually discover pictures on Pinterest. All those glorious photos waiting for me to claim them as current or future inspiration (or just gorgeous things to stare at. I’m not above pinning a few of those). But while browsing the other day, I stumbled across some music videos. And quickly discovered a whole new amazing genre of music: Hang music. This is music played on a Hang, or a Hand pan, which is a kind of metal hand drum. If you have a few spare minutes, I would highly recommend looking them up. They’re really interesting.

One of my favourite pieces of Hang music is Sam’s Dance. This piece has a haunting sound combined with a dance-like beat. It has an almost tribal feel to it actually. This song would make great inspiration for native tribes of all kinds, or as unusual music for fantasy settings. I could also see this song as a background for a strange ritual.


For anyone interested in knowing a little more about the Hang as an instrument, you should check out this video, which will give you a bit more information.


And, while we’re on the subject of Pinterest, I’d like to announce that Writing Music officially has its own Pinterest board! If you’re a fan of this series then you might like to check out its board. It contains every piece of music I’ve ever shared on this blog, as well as more interesting pieces that I’ve found and added in between times. If you’re looking for musical inspiration, you should definitely check it out HERE.


Have you ever heard of the Hang before? Do you like this kind of music? What other unusual instruments do you like listening to? Are you planning on checking out the Writing Music Pinterest board? And tell me, what music is getting you inspired at the moment?

8 comments:

  1. I LOVE Pinterest so much, oh my god. I mean, okay, sometimes it can become a BIT of a distraction, but I'm literally obsessed with that site. So many amazing things there! I haven't heard of the Hang before, but I'll check it out! I mainly listen to soundtrack/score music when I write, although it depends on WHAT I'm writing. (when I wrote my contemp. mystery/thriller I listened to a lot of artists like Agnes Obel, Sóley, etc.) And ooh, in the 'you might also like' section there I can see a post about music from Skyrim--I ADORE Jeremy Soule's work. <3 <3

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    1. I've only heard Jeremy Soule's work in the Skyrim soundtrack, but that is so amazing that I think I need to look up what other music he has composed. It's so good for writing to! Thanks for stopping to listen!

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  2. This is so fascinating! I keep looking at them in the video wondering how that sound was coming from that instrument. Then I watched a bit of the Ted talk and started to put it together. Still, it's amazing! I've never seen anything like that.

    Thanks so much for sharing this!

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    1. Me too! It's such amazing music to come from something that looks like a wok with dents in it. Thank you for stopping to listen!

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  3. I may have heard this instrument, but I didn't know what it was called. This is a really cool sound. ^ ^

    storitorigrace.blogspot.com

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    1. It's so unique and interesting, isn't it? I actually really want to put a hang in a book one day now.

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  4. O_O I don't think I've ever heard of hang music before, BUT THIS IS SO COOL OH MY GOODNESS WHERE HAS THIS BEEN ALL MY LIFE. *calms self* I love the sound and the beat, and it has such a great feel to it. It is PERFECT writing music. *attack hugs you* Thanks for sharing! :)

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    1. It's so amazing, isn't it? I'm still in awe at the fact that such a strange looking upside down wok thing can make such a beautiful sound. So glad you loved it!

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