E Akebono Manastone Steel Tongue Drum

Available in the key of E, the Akebono scale Manastone steel tongue drum:

• Well known and cherished Japanese minor pentatonic scale
• Has a complex- and fresh-sounding scale with introspective vibes
  
• Is easy & intuitive to learn, popular for constructing melodies & chords easily
• Perfect instrument for beginners & professionals alike
• A melodic percussive instrument that combines the best of rhythm & melody
• Is endless fun for any age and is easy to learn & be creative
• Sounds great as a cool, calm pool-side  scale for floating your drum in the heat of summer
• Brings a calming energy to the space   
• Has an elegant, minimal design that looks beautiful in the home or office
• Is guaranteed to be perfectly tuned using our proprietary Tone Tempered Tuning ™
• Is small, lightweight, durable & portable
• Made of high quality steel, virtually indestructible, easy to disinfect
• 100% Custom, handcrafted in the USA by Manastone Drums 

Genre:  Japanese, Blues, Meditative

Feeling:  Fresh, Stimulating, Aware, Complex, Introspective

Playability:  Easy & Intuitive

Key: E Akebono

Scale:  E A B C E F A B C

Number of Notes:  9

*Pair of branded, rubber-tipped, wooden mallets included in every order. Please refer to the virtual drum to hear all the notes in the scale.

BONUS - Each purchase of a Manastone steel tongue drum now comes with two hours of Video Lessons to help you learn basic technique for playing the steel tongue drum. 

Benefit

Scale Overview: 

This is a Japanese Minor Pentatonic scale, which means it is comprised of only 5 notes taken from a minor scale.  Five note scales are extremely popular for their ability to construct melody and lead parts very easily.  For example, the genre of Blues music is popular for it's use of the pentatonic scale.

The specific notes are what makes an Akebono scale uniquely recognizable & gives the sounds of the drum an overall feeling. If the spacing or interval of the notes remains the same but the lowest note is made to sound higher or lower, then the key changes up or down, but the scale and overall feeling remains recognizably the same.

Important Note:  All Akebono drums must be made with the sound hole on bottom for the best quality and resonance.  

Playability: As with all Manastone steel tongue drums, all the notes are in a specially selected scale. That means it's in perfect harmony with itself, so it's easy to make it sound good. This is a very playable drum because the notes and combination of notes (chords) are very familiar to our ears. Our intuitive layout of notes makes it easy to play. This is also a great drum for jamming with other instruments. 

Design & Sound Characteristics: We offer a handcrafted instrument of beauty rich in sound & sight. The Manastone is designed with a taller chamber & the hole on top resulting in a richer acoustic tone, louder sound & wider range of notes than manufactured steel tongue drums. This full sound resonates with rich harmonic layers & volume that carries indoors.  You get the attributes of a larger handpan but in a smaller, more portable & less-expensive instrument. Value meets master craftsmanship.

Options to Float, Resonate, Hole Location, & Add Pickup: 

Floating: Normally, for other scales, we are able to make you a drum that floats if you select the hole to be on top of the drum and choose a chameleon finish. However, Akebono is the only scale that requires us to put the sound hole on the bottom for best resonance. For this reason, the Akebono scale cannot be made into a floating drum.

Tuning: The world wide standard tuning is 440hz for popular music and it is the sound your ears are used to.  If you intent to play with other melodic instruments, you may want to consider 440 so that you are easily in tune with other the other instruments.

You are also able to select tuning at 432hz if you prefer non-standard tuning.  432 is essentially a lower tuning, so each note would be slightly lower.  432hz tunings are often used in the sound healing world and are said to resonate perfectly with the earth, human body, and energy system.  Choosing 432 means other instruments would need to tune to your drum.  If you are interested in exploring 432hz for yourself, here's your chance!  

Hole Location: The default location for the hole is on bottom for Akebono because this scale doesn't resonate correctly when the sound hole is placed on top.  Sound hole on bottom is the original Manastone design and sounds just as good.  For the same reasons, Akebono does not work on double sided 18-note drums.  It only works with the sound hole on bottom in a 9-note model.  

Adding a Pickup: We can add a Piezo pickup to your drum for an additional $35.  The pickups sounds great and allow you to plug into an amplifier for a performance or to play with different effects like reverb and delay that can create an even bigger and thicker sound.  ***Adding a pickup means the drum can't float, but it's a great trade off.  

MATERIALS AND BUILD

Drums made of tone tempered steel and sealed with a powder coat finish that is very tough, UV resistant, weather resistant and doesn’t pollute the environment or outgas like other paints.

Weight - 9.5 pounds

Size - 12 inch diameter X  8 inches tall, able to sit comfortably in your lap.  

BONUS - TWO HOURS OF LESSONS INCLUDED

Bonus - Each purchase of a Manastone steel tongue drum now comes with two hours of prerecorded video lessons to help you learn all the basics! You'll learn drum care and basic technique.  Join co-owner Nicholas to become informed, inspired, and tap into your creative potential. This 10-video series covers the following subjects:

1. Introduction Video 
2. Lesson 1 - Drum Care
3. Lesson 2 - How to Hold the Drum for Most Resonance
4. Lesson 3 - Holding Mallets & Walking Up the Scale
5. Lesson 4 - Playing with your Hands 101
6. Lesson 5 - Finding Chords and Patterns
7. Lesson 6 - Establishing Core Rhythms
8. Lesson 7 - Main Differences Between Playing with Mallets vs. Hands
9. Lesson 8 - Special Techniques
10. Lesson 9 - Conclusion & Bonus Tips for Playing Music for Meditation & Yoga

*For more information visit our FAQ.  

Your drum will ship within 3 - 10 days of placing your order depending on how many other orders we have at the time.  We hand make each drum to order in the order that they come in, and look forward to making yours :)

Thank you,

Noah & Nicholas 

Also Recommended 

Double-Sided Manastone Steel Tongue Drums

Floating Tongue Drums

HANDCRAFTED WITH LOVE IN A SMALL MOUNTAIN WORKSHOP IN CRESTONE, COLORADO.