20. March 2015 - Article: In Switzerland, a musician searches for the ‘Holy Grail’ of instruments
By David Rowell, March 20, 2015
Some Quotes:
“The hang is a percussion instrument. “
“The only way you could get one, I learned, was to write a letter — no e-mails — and make a case as to why you were worthy of owning this instrument. Most applications were denied. The lucky recipient then had to fly to Bern to pick up the hang in person — and pay about $3,000. But not right away; there was a waiting list of a year or longer.”
“PANArt was late and, ultimately, unsuccessful in trying to patent its design.”
“There was the German-made caisa that Musik Müller displayed in the front window. One day, Felix happened to be walking by. “He saw that, and he came in and was very angry,” Tom said. “And said, ‘Well, with this instrument you destroy your shop.’ (…) there was a repeat performance when the store started carrying another knockoff, produced in France, called the Spacedrum. “This is not a good copy,” Tom said Felix told him. “They all make s—.”
“They’re not interested in making money. For them it’s all about the artifice. In fact, they don’t even call it an instrument — they call it a sound sculpture.”
“Maybe Felix was right: Maybe I had had the virus. Now I seemed to be cured.”
Related podcast episode:
Quotes from Podcast:
“1000s of people were desperate for such an instrument”
“It seems that you have been touched by the virus of the Hang. This virus is rather strong. And people travel arround the world to get touched again.”