I achieved my almost chromatic set up with three little cheap tongue steel drums, I bought some cheap ones because I wanted to detune them with a saw, or retune them to have a chromatic scale, the first one is a 15 note that has E lower note and goes diatonically on the c major scale, I tuned the A notes on that drum to Ab because the second one I retuned it almost completely, this second drum has 11 notes and has a A low note, I think it was originally on D major scale, but I tuned it A Bb C# D Eb F# G A Bb C#, With the larger one having E F G Ab B C D, I have some duplicate notes and I lack a lower F# but I can play most of the songs that I have tried in the past month
Well you have a great experience! Still I think 2 drums are better than 3, plus when they sound great on their own it means you can play each one without thinking they are a chromatic pair.
@@yudinworkshop the 11 note drum on its own has a great sound over a G drone, I think it is a double harmonic scale, later I´ll upload a video of me playing my setup and I would like you to check it, maybe with this experience I can order some drums from you guys, they sound really good
Awesome video Maksim - Love the insight! I can definitely see the benefit of two drums that play well solo; but I also appreciate the challenge of playing both as a chromatic scale! It'd be neat to see these in the gold and purple colors - I think they'd complement well! Love the theory as well; made me think of the Moog Subharmonicon (an electronic synth that focuses on harmonics with equal and just temperments. Neat stuff)
Thank you so much for the explanation of idiophones and note fields. It helped to clarify for me why these instruments are constructed as they are. I clicked on your link for the 18 note instrument, but it linked me to a 13-note one…do you have a timeline in mind for when you may be offering the 18-note option for purchase? Thank you again and have a lovely day. 😊
Thank you very much for watching my video, I tried to make it informative. I will upload 2-3 videos a month and tell such useful things. As for 18 notes, I can already make this drum now, the only thing is to program the editor on the site, it will take me some time, but if you know the notes that you need, just write to me and I will do it for you.
Brilliant work on the drums and good job on the video, Maksim! 🙌 I love my whole tone pair of Pulsar drums you made for me although I haven't had time lately to play them. I've been thinking about masking off both drums and spray painting the sharp/flat tongues black or a darker color to make it easier to visualize the patterns but I don't know a lot about painting metal that is already painted and don't want to harm the looks or tuning. I have a couple other interesting ideas for you to consider and I'll email them to you. 🙂
If your instrument is lacquered, you can buy any acrylic spray paint and apply a light, thin coat, this should not affect the sound. But if your drum is Raw then it won't work.
@@yudinworkshop Thanks, my drums are lacquered. Should I lightly sand the tongues to be painted first or just clean well with isopropyl alcohol? This is for future reference, I have too many other things to do before I attempt this! ;-)
@@JohnLRice alcohol or solvent will wash off the paint, or severely damage its structure, but you don’t need it. Just take a very fine sandpaper, rub it lightly, and then wash off the dust with a nitral degreaser, such as those sold at the hardware store, it does not contain any alcohol or solvent. But as a pro, I must say don't repeat this at home, it will damage your instrument and all this things.
This is the reason why i bought the Kosmosky New Wave chromatic pair of drums... I wanted to have options for everything! Your video is really interesting so I have a better understanding of how the drums are designed the way they are! I have talked to you before about your chromatic pair, at some point I would still love to get a pair from you. :) Especially if you can offer a chromatic pair that has more than 2 octave range ! Is there any reason why you picked Bflat as the starting diatonic scale? and you didn't talk about the second option you discussed with me, which is to spread the chromatic scale across both drums equally ( i know, harder to play, and the drum must be played as a pair - so probably not really something that most people would pick)
Thank you for your interest! Yes, now I can make chromatic scale more than 2 octaves, from Bb2 to E5. The choice of this range is very simple, since the maximum number of notes had to be placed, and low notes take up a lot of space. You need to understand that not only the note itself takes up space, but the space around the note is also important. And so I started placing notes from the end, from the E5 note, which is the highest stable note that I can do, since any material has limits. I made notes higher, but the stability drops exponentially. And since on the white key instrument I already put 18 notes, and the lowest was B2, and on the black key instrument there were only 12 notes, and I just added another flat. You can add more, but then you have to add the 19th note to the white keys, which is no longer possible in this instrument size. And I told both versions of the chromatic scale in the video, you probably missed it :)
Great Video Maksim, love your drums! Wow 18 notes on one drum? Before your limit was 15 right? Two questions: what do you think about the possibilities of double sided drums? And when I asked you about a pickup system, you mentioned you are not satisfied with piezo pickups, but you maybe have an other idea, any news on that front? Keep up the good work!
Thank you! Yes, I think that I will soon add the ability to make Triple Ding instruments up to 18 notes to the editor on the site. Previously, the limit for the Triple Ding was 15, for the Circle Ding 16. I plan to remove the Circle Ding from the possibilities since it is practically not in demand, and high notes are often not stable on these instruments. Regarding the notes on the bottom of the instrument: About 4 years ago we experimented with this, but there are 3 problems with this: the first is the weighting of the instrument by 1.5-2 times more, since the same heavy material must be used on the bottom half of the instrument. The second is the convenience of playing, the notes on tongue drums are a console with one end "growing" out of the body, I call this the root of the note, and given the size of these notes, as well as placing them with the root to the center, because only in this way will it be possible playing simultaneously on the top and bottom half like a handpan, makes it impossible to place such an instrument either on the player's lap or on any stand. And the third is the Helmholtz resonance. The bottom hemisphere acts as a resonator and amplifies low frequencies, if you put the instrument on a drum stand and remove the bottom cover/rubber plug/stand, you will hear a difference in sound volume and the absence of low frequencies. Therefore, if we make notes on the bottom, then we make a "leaky" instrument.
As for the special pickup system, yes I have an interesting idea, but for obvious reasons I will not divulge it, because I plan to make about a billion euros from it. I hope to finish it soon and patent it.
Yea, that's the limitation of this instrument.. Basically, the only practical solution is - if there is a VST for this instrument, you can play all the chromatic notes using your MIDI keyboard :( PS. I'm saving money to buy one of these in the future ! Is there a feature to customize the shape of sound holes too ?
@@yudinworkshop Yes, it is absolutely Non-essential. Just aesthetics. I like the the RAV ones, but the cat paw ones, (that are currently on your models), are fine too :) The most important thing is the sound !, and the RAV do not offer the scales that i'm interested in :)
This just makes me want more drums 😅
Always waiting on our website for a new order :)
Hehe you are a sly one!
Great explanation,Maksim You make fantastic drums. Am very, very happy with your masterpiece!
Thank you very much for your support! I'll try not to slow down.
Another awesome video!!!! Keep them coming! Can't wait to get my 3rd YW Pulsar one of these days!
Thank you! I already have a lot of ideas for the next videos, if only the audience grows and it's not boring :)
The videos are certainly not boring!!! And it just takes time and constancy to grow! You got this! @@yudinworkshop
I achieved my almost chromatic set up with three little cheap tongue steel drums, I bought some cheap ones because I wanted to detune them with a saw, or retune them to have a chromatic scale, the first one is a 15 note that has E lower note and goes diatonically on the c major scale, I tuned the A notes on that drum to Ab because the second one I retuned it almost completely, this second drum has 11 notes and has a A low note, I think it was originally on D major scale, but I tuned it A Bb C# D Eb F# G A Bb C#, With the larger one having E F G Ab B C D, I have some duplicate notes and I lack a lower F# but I can play most of the songs that I have tried in the past month
Well you have a great experience! Still I think 2 drums are better than 3, plus when they sound great on their own it means you can play each one without thinking they are a chromatic pair.
@@yudinworkshop the 11 note drum on its own has a great sound over a G drone, I think it is a double harmonic scale, later I´ll upload a video of me playing my setup and I would like you to check it, maybe with this experience I can order some drums from you guys, they sound really good
@@almendratlilkouatl Well of course I'll take a look, you can send me an email through the site.
Awesome video Maksim - Love the insight! I can definitely see the benefit of two drums that play well solo; but I also appreciate the challenge of playing both as a chromatic scale! It'd be neat to see these in the gold and purple colors - I think they'd complement well!
Love the theory as well; made me think of the Moog Subharmonicon (an electronic synth that focuses on harmonics with equal and just temperments. Neat stuff)
Thank you! I think I can tell a lot more interesting things. And as for the colors, yes, gold and purple are always available on the site! :)
Thank you so much for the explanation of idiophones and note fields. It helped to clarify for me why these instruments are constructed as they are. I clicked on your link for the 18 note instrument, but it linked me to a 13-note one…do you have a timeline in mind for when you may be offering the 18-note option for purchase? Thank you again and have a lovely day. 😊
Thank you very much for watching my video, I tried to make it informative. I will upload 2-3 videos a month and tell such useful things. As for 18 notes, I can already make this drum now, the only thing is to program the editor on the site, it will take me some time, but if you know the notes that you need, just write to me and I will do it for you.
Brilliant work on the drums and good job on the video, Maksim! 🙌 I love my whole tone pair of Pulsar drums you made for me although I haven't had time lately to play them. I've been thinking about masking off both drums and spray painting the sharp/flat tongues black or a darker color to make it easier to visualize the patterns but I don't know a lot about painting metal that is already painted and don't want to harm the looks or tuning. I have a couple other interesting ideas for you to consider and I'll email them to you. 🙂
Oh wow, it's a really good idea to visually highlight the black and white keys to make it more convenient! Thanks, I'll think about it.
If your instrument is lacquered, you can buy any acrylic spray paint and apply a light, thin coat, this should not affect the sound. But if your drum is Raw then it won't work.
@@yudinworkshop Thanks, my drums are lacquered. Should I lightly sand the tongues to be painted first or just clean well with isopropyl alcohol? This is for future reference, I have too many other things to do before I attempt this! ;-)
@@JohnLRice alcohol or solvent will wash off the paint, or severely damage its structure, but you don’t need it. Just take a very fine sandpaper, rub it lightly, and then wash off the dust with a nitral degreaser, such as those sold at the hardware store, it does not contain any alcohol or solvent. But as a pro, I must say don't repeat this at home, it will damage your instrument and all this things.
@@yudinworkshop Good to know, thanks for the tips! 🙂
This is the reason why i bought the Kosmosky New Wave chromatic pair of drums... I wanted to have options for everything! Your video is really interesting so I have a better understanding of how the drums are designed the way they are!
I have talked to you before about your chromatic pair, at some point I would still love to get a pair from you. :) Especially if you can offer a chromatic pair that has more than 2 octave range !
Is there any reason why you picked Bflat as the starting diatonic scale?
and you didn't talk about the second option you discussed with me, which is to spread the chromatic scale across both drums equally ( i know, harder to play, and the drum must be played as a pair - so probably not really something that most people would pick)
Thank you for your interest!
Yes, now I can make chromatic scale more than 2 octaves, from Bb2 to E5. The choice of this range is very simple, since the maximum number of notes had to be placed, and low notes take up a lot of space. You need to understand that not only the note itself takes up space, but the space around the note is also important. And so I started placing notes from the end, from the E5 note, which is the highest stable note that I can do, since any material has limits. I made notes higher, but the stability drops exponentially. And since on the white key instrument I already put 18 notes, and the lowest was B2, and on the black key instrument there were only 12 notes, and I just added another flat. You can add more, but then you have to add the 19th note to the white keys, which is no longer possible in this instrument size.
And I told both versions of the chromatic scale in the video, you probably missed it :)
Great Video Maksim, love your drums! Wow 18 notes on one drum? Before your limit was 15 right? Two questions: what do you think about the possibilities of double sided drums? And when I asked you about a pickup system, you mentioned you are not satisfied with piezo pickups, but you maybe have an other idea, any news on that front? Keep up the good work!
Thank you! Yes, I think that I will soon add the ability to make Triple Ding instruments up to 18 notes to the editor on the site. Previously, the limit for the Triple Ding was 15, for the Circle Ding 16. I plan to remove the Circle Ding from the possibilities since it is practically not in demand, and high notes are often not stable on these instruments.
Regarding the notes on the bottom of the instrument: About 4 years ago we experimented with this, but there are 3 problems with this: the first is the weighting of the instrument by 1.5-2 times more, since the same heavy material must be used on the bottom half of the instrument. The second is the convenience of playing, the notes on tongue drums are a console with one end "growing" out of the body, I call this the root of the note, and given the size of these notes, as well as placing them with the root to the center, because only in this way will it be possible playing simultaneously on the top and bottom half like a handpan, makes it impossible to place such an instrument either on the player's lap or on any stand. And the third is the Helmholtz resonance. The bottom hemisphere acts as a resonator and amplifies low frequencies, if you put the instrument on a drum stand and remove the bottom cover/rubber plug/stand, you will hear a difference in sound volume and the absence of low frequencies. Therefore, if we make notes on the bottom, then we make a "leaky" instrument.
As for the special pickup system, yes I have an interesting idea, but for obvious reasons I will not divulge it, because I plan to make about a billion euros from it. I hope to finish it soon and patent it.
Thanks for your detailed answers and good luck with your patent idea!
great video🔥👍
Thank you, I hope it's not boring :)
Yea, that's the limitation of this instrument.. Basically, the only practical solution is - if there is a VST for this instrument, you can play all the chromatic notes using your MIDI keyboard :(
PS. I'm saving money to buy one of these in the future ! Is there a feature to customize the shape of sound holes too ?
May I ask, why do you need to customize the shape of the sound holes?
@@yudinworkshop Yes, it is absolutely Non-essential. Just aesthetics. I like the the RAV ones, but the cat paw ones, (that are currently on your models), are fine too :) The most important thing is the sound !, and the RAV do not offer the scales that i'm interested in :)