Blackbells Astral Hang Drum

Blackbells now has more information up on their website about their first limited edition Hang Drum model to be offered. It's called the "Astral". They haven't yet decided on the tuning which will be offered, and from all information available, it looks like the scales offered on the Astral will be limited.

It appears that this first model is going to be more about scaling production and getting all of their production kinks and tuning methodology worked out. Thus the limited scales offered.

The Good News:

Looks like they are ready to start taking deposits on the first ones to be produced. Cost will be $3000, give or take a little. You must be on the waiting list to be offered one, so if you have any interest, best to get on the waiting list. When I joined the waiting list in January, there were 200 or so ahead of me. I have no idea what the list looks like now, but you'll need to submit a form on the website to get on the list.

I have to admit that $3000 can buy a lot of instruments... I could buy a pretty sweet Martin guitar for that price... so it still seems a bit pricey. That and the fact that I haven't received spousal approval yet for this.

They are suggesting that it will be about a 3 month wait from the time your deposit is received.

Blackbells Website is LIVE

The Blackbells company is a new company who are bringing a new version of the Hang Drum to market. Their site is now live and features a really lush flash intro. You gotta check it out.

They are taking orders for their waiting list now and it looks like it will be something like 3 months to receive a drum. I wrote to the company and recieved the following email in response to my inquiry:

"Thank you for your interest in BlackBells.com, and we apologize for the delay in getting back to you. Currently, we do not have a specified price range. However, we are expecting a release date of around Q1 of 2008. Availability will largely depend on demand, and currently we have a waiting list of roughly 100 customers, and some of those have ordered more than one. We anticipate a typical wait time for new orders to be roughly 3-6 months, and of course, we are looking to shorten that time without compromising quality.

What can we tell you about our instruments? Well, we have approached it as a bell, which we believe it truly is. All of our instruments will be made with the highest quality materials, and will come with a certified print out of tuning accuracy. We are experimenting with various hardening procedures, but do know that playing over the years will render the instrument out of tune. As a result, we are aware that we need to offer some sort of tuning service for our customers. We are working on those logistics as we speak.

If you would like to get on our waiting list, we request that you send us an email and include the following information:

Full Name

Shipping address (we will confirm this before shipping)

A phone number we can reach you at

Valid email address

Nature of request (number of instruments, etc.)

The process will work as follows:

When we are ready to provide your instrument, we will contact you and describe the opportunity, discuss payment arrangements, etc. If you are not able to purchase the instrument, we will go to the next in line and your name will have to go to the bottom of the list. When we ship, we will ship certified, and insured for full amount – no exceptions.

We are very excited about providing you with a high quality instrument, and appreciate your interest in and support of BlackBells.com

Note that there is now an online form which you can complete to get on the waiting list!

If you have any interest in getting your hands on a Hang-style drum, this looks like a great opportunity.

It appears that Blackbells will push new limits with the Hang-style drums. They are looking at new ways of creating and tuning the instrument, as well as new designs. Who ever said competition isn't good for the market? ;-)

They are also going to be offering services including a 'retuning' service for your Blackbells drum over time. It looks like they are serious about their "whole product" delivery, and I applaud that.

If you want to get whipped into a frenzy, checkout their online forum: http://www.blackbells.com/forum


Here's the website link: http://www.blackbells.com/