Study Break

I'm taking a break from studying to give my brain some time to relax and so that I can post something on here. Still working on what it is this blog should be about...so far it's been about tech, specifically the Nokia internet tablets. My N800 is shipping now, so I'll post something on that later when it actually arrives.

I don't want to talk about techy stuff for this post though. Let's give musical instruments a go. For instance, have you ever heard of a Guqin or a Guzheng? These are ancient stringed instruments from China. There are variations of the two in surrounding Asian countries, but I have been unable to find videos/music clips of these with music that I enjoy listening to. So I have stuck with the Chinese instruments. In a completely different vein from these two strings is an instrument that was recently developed in Switzerland in 2000. It's called a Hang (pronounced hung), from a word in the local dialect meaning 'hand'. In manufacture and sound it resembles steelpan drums of the Caribbean, though the method of playing differs, resulting in compositions that are quite unique from those of steelpan. It is a difficult and expensive instrument to procure, which is perhaps why groups of the instrument are not played together as is often the case with steelpans.

Here is a collection of some videos I have found on YouTube showing off the three instruments I have very briefly talked about above, as well as other traditional instruments that intrigue me. I'm sure it would take you a while to view all of them, but if you have a few minutes check out one or two of the clips. Hopefully you'll enjoy them as much as I have. À Bientôt!