The hang, (hang drum as it's often called) is a really unique instrument and one that has fascinated me for sometime now. There are two ways in which to obtain a PANArt hang. The first (and the most difficult) is to write a letter to the hanghaus and ask express permission to visit Bern. There you can select your hang (if you are worthy enough to play on the instrument). This is financially the best option but demand is so high and production so small that it is fairly difficult to obtain an invitation. If you go down the online 2nd hand hang route, these are often way more expensive. (Anything from $5000-$12000 in some cases). Also, beware buying some later models (which should hardly ever come up) as there are contracts in place to stop the sale of these hangs. (Integral and Free Integral Hang).
Some people refer to these instruments as Hang Drum's and you can see why. The hang drum is closely related to the steel pan which is often called a steel drum. Many believe the hang is an instrument in it's own right and is not a drum and thus should be correctly thought of as a hang (pronounced hung) rather than hang drum.
In between my performing career and running percussion music online, an online resource that promotes Percussion and Marimba Music, www.percussionmusiconline.com, I have been following the purchase and sale of Panart Hangs and have become increasingly alarmed to see that the amount of fraudulent activity is on the increase, especially on online classified and auction sites. The same photos often appear on regular occasions, the same text and the same process to "purchase" a non existing instrument!
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