9-Note Big Bear Scales - Manastone Steel Tongue Drums

Big Bear 9-Note Steel Tongue Drum Scales

Available in the keys of D, E-flat, E & F

• Calming & mysterious Chinese minor scale 
• Perfect instrument for beginners & professionals alike
• Melodic percussion combines the best of rhythm & melody
• Endless fun for any age and is easy to learn & be creative
• Brings a calming energy to the space   
• Elegant, minimal design looks beautiful in the home or office
• Guaranteed to be perfectly tuned using our proprietary Tone Tempered Tuning ™
• Small, lightweight, and portable
• Made of high quality steel, virtually indestructible, easy to disinfect
• 100% Custom, handcrafted in the USA by Manastone Drums 
• Pair of branded rubber mallets included. 
• BONUS - Two hours recorded video instruction included.

Feeling: Big Bear is a Chinese minor scale and Dàxióng means "big bear" in Chinese.  While this scale is powerful, strong, driving, and easy to jam on, it is also calming, mysterious, and great for chill meditation vibes. Babies and children love this scale! They tend to remain transfixed, curious and calm when it is played. 

Scale Overview: The specific notes are what makes a Big Big Bear scale uniquely recognizable and gives it its 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. The lowest key we offer for the Big Bear scale is D and the highest is F. 

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. Our intuitive layout of notes makes it easy to play.  This is a very playable drum because the notes and combination of notes (chords) are very familiar to our ears. This drum is great for personal use and also good for collaboration with other musicians. 

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: 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. 

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 top because this offers more volume and clearer sound. However, the benefits of putting the hole on bottom are that the drum is just a little bit quieter and you now have a metal strike zone in the middle of the drum that you can hit with the mallet or your hand for a "Cymbal" like ringing smack.  

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.  

Big Bear Scale Genre:  Chill, Meditation, Pop, Rock

Big Bear Scale Feeling:  Calming, Mysterious, Jungle Vibes, Adventurous

D Big Bear Manastone Steel Tongue Drum

Key: D

Notes in Scale:  D G A C D E F G A

Video of the hole-on-bottom version of the D Big Bear Manastone Steel Tongue Drum:

E flat Big Bear Manastone Steel Tongue Drum 

Key: Eb

Notes in Scale: Eb Ab Bb Db Eb F Gb Ab Bb*

*No video available of the Eb Big Bear drum; please see the virtual drum to hear all the notes in the scale.

E Big Bear Manastone Steel Tongue Drum

Key: E

Notes in Scale: E A B D E F# G A B

Video of the floating hole-on-top version of the E Big Bear Manastone Steel Tongue Drum:

F Big Bear Manastone Steel Tongue Drum

Key: F

Notes in Scale:  F Bb C Eb F G Ab Bb C

Video of the hole-on-bottom version of the D Big Bear Manastone Steel Tongue Drum:

Materials & Build

All Manastone Steel Tongue 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.  

*For more information visit our FAQ.  

*Rubber mallets included in every order. 

BONUS - TWO HOURS OF LESSONS INCLUDED

Each purchase of a Manastone steel tongue drum now comes with two hours of prerecorded video lessons to help you learn all the basics from drum care to 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

Your drum will ship in 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