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Steel tongue drums are a great instrument to help your kids get started with music. They are easy to play and produce a harmonious sound.
You can play them using mallets or your hands. And they can be enjoyed by people with all skill levels.
The best steel tongue drums for kids are as follows:
Read on to learn more about each drum. We will tell you the reasons why we put them on the list. We will also tell you which drums are more suitable for kids and why.
Let's dive in!
Calm Panda steel tongue drum is the best steel tongue drum for kids! It's a great modern steel tongue drum for beginners and professionals alike. Every music lover must have the Calm Panda steel drum in their collection.
To get the title of the best tongue drum, you must get many things right. And Calm Panda has got them all down. The drum is only 6.5" and weighs just 1.4 pounds. This makes it extremely easy to handle for kids. These drums are tuned to D-major.
The best steel tongue drum is built using non-toxic material. The drum is handmade using a high-quality steel alloy and is coated with lead-free paint.
Calm Panda has a great quality control process. They inspect every drum individually and offer a lifelong guarantee on their products.
And if you still need help with their drums, they have a hassle-free return policy.
The drum is relatively very inexpensive and a great budget option. It comes with a carrying bag, 2x drum mallets, four finger pads, and an instructional manual to help you get started.
There are six different color options that you can pick out. You can get white, red, black, blue, pink, or gold. And there are two versions of the drum: an 8-tone and an 11-tone drum.
The Calm Panda drums are extremely easy to play. This makes it great for kids just starting their tank drum journeys. Calm Panda also gives video tutorials with each purchase which can help you easily learn how to play. These are the perfect tank drums for kids.
The Panda Drum™ also has special healing properties. The drum produces a healing frequency of 432 Hz.
People believe that 432 Hz produces a "purer sound" that's better for meditation. Most of the music around us is produced at 440 Hz. However, 432 Hz is now considered a transcendental frequency that allows us to listen to a "purer" form of music.
It's perfect for meditation, mindfulness, creative thinking, and spiritual quests. It can also help soothe people who are suffering from anxiety or ADHD.
A lesser-known company creates the Yinama tongue steel tongue drum, but this is one of the best steel tongue drums out there. It's an inch smaller and weighs less than others on the list. This makes it easy to handle for kids.
The lower weight doesn't affect the musical performance of the instrument. It can go head-to-head with some of the other steel tongue drums on this list.
This percussion instrument is handcrafted. It's made from a steel titanium alloy that helps it produce characteristic melodic sounds.
Plus, the titanium alloy coating on the tongues gives this drum a distinct sound. It's slightly different from all the other tank drums we will discuss.
However, it still has its chimy sound quality. The percussion of this musical instrument is still preserved. You can easily tell when someone is playing a Yinama steel tongue drum compared to all the others. And that, too, only using your ears.
It's great for people who want to learn steel tongue drum basics. It's also a great percussion instrument for drumming enthusiasts and pros.
This percussion instrument has 11 tongues and is tuned to the C major pentatonic scale.
Yinama is a company that's known for making high-quality musical instruments. As such, the build quality of this steel tongue drum is amazing!
The Unlax 12" tongue drum produces a sound that is similar to the singing bowls that make a Buddha-like sound. Buddhist monks often use that sound for meditation.
The mellow drum sound is great for relaxing. Its soothing tone comprises ethereal sounds that help you enter a state of mindfulness. It's like a zen-tone drum.
You get a few things when you purchase an Unlax 12" tongue drum. You get a drum bag, included drum mallets, and a book to start your music education!
This zen drum is surprisingly robust and can go head-to-head with a high-end percussion instrument in music therapy.
Wonderful music is used to achieve inner peace by lowering stress. Playing the steel tongue drum will make you feel calmer and more relaxed. You will feel your body letting go of all the worries and entering a zen state.
It comes with 11 tongues and has a size of 12" (if that wasn't obvious already from the name). It's tuned to the D-Major pentatonic scale and weighs around 7 pounds.
These steel drums are perfect for meditation, yoga, or outdoor entertainment. They are great for kids and can be used anywhere you want.
Regis steel tongue drum is a great budget option. Its price point makes it a great budget musical instrument. And it's one of the best steel tongue drums out there.
The Regis is a smaller drum than most. The steel tongue drum is tiny at only 6" and weighs less than 2 pounds. Even though it's called a steel tongue drum, it's made of a titanium alloy and not steel.
You can buy this drum in multiple colors. This makes it perfect for a kids' music theme party or sound therapy for kids.
When you buy this drum, you also get a carry-on bag and drum mallets. A music book that helps you get started with your music education is also included in the package.
The company making this drum has designed it for a younger audience. It's supposed to be fun, soothing, and energetic. It's made specifically for beginners.
The low price of $40 means the manufacturing quality might not be the highest. And since this is targeted at beginners, they might not be able to recognize if it's not tuned correctly.
However, it delivers a wonderful night of drum circle when all you want to do is play the drums for fun. And the fact that it's inexpensive only helps its case.
Rav Vast 2 is one of the more premium steel tongue drums on the list. It's not meant for beginners, but it would be a great upgrade for kids who are into steel tongue drums.
The steel drum offers a very high-quality sound. It's tuned to D Celtic minor scale and has additional harmonics.
The 20" drum body is built to be incredibly resilient. The steel is almost 1 inch thick. It can withstand rough usage and any weather conditions that you may throw at it. It can also stand on different types of grounds.
You get the best ethereal sounds because you would be spending around $800 on a steel tongue drum. But, surprisingly, you don't get drum mallets with it.
It has a great sound quality for busking. But it's not for people who aren't into music education or music theory.
KosmoSky raves about being one of the best tank drum manufacturers in the world. They produce some of the best steel drums that are very popular with their customers. However, their steel drums are on the expensive end of the spectrum, especially if you are buying them for kids.
KosmoSky is a Russian company, and they deliver worldwide. All their tank drums are handmade from carbon steel and offer the best quality.
The steel bowls are also subjected to hot stamping. The tongues of their steel drum are tuned to different notes. The notes depend on the size of the steel tongues. The larger tongues produce lower tones. In contrast, the smaller tongues produce higher notes.
When purchasing the drum, you have to select a tonality. This determines the notes your drum would be tuned to.
KosmoSky offers many customization options to make your steel drums feel truly yours.
The drums come in many beautiful scales and tones. They are available in Annealing (blue-Purple Colors) and Bluing (Golden Colors).
You can also choose between a round or rectangular shape and different forms of tongues. Plus, they are available with different engraving designs.
This steel tongue drum also comes on the more expensive side. But at the high price of $526, the drum delivers a great sound quality. The one and the articulation on this drum are unmatched.
It's also considered one of the best steel tongue drums because it's tunable. You can adjust the tone of the drum using multiple scales.
The drum also features an audio output line. This means you can plug it into an amplifier and have a little steel tongue drum concert!
The Idiopan Domina is also a kid-friendly steel drum. It weighs around 9 pounds and can be easily handled by kids. The drum is tuned to the C Major pentatonic scale.
The Idiopan Domina is also one of the tunable drums on the list. It comes with magnets that can be used to alter the pitch of the steel drum. You can take the pitch up to 432 Hz. However, that doesn't have any magical effects.
The magnets are strong and dangerous for kids if used without supervision.
The company that makes Idiopan Domina also makes several other drums and musical instruments. The Domina has a feminine touch in their collection.
It has flashy colors, boasting emerald, ruby, and sapphire shades. That would be a cool little touch for any fans of the Pokemon game series. The drum comes with cool black drum mallets and a display ring.
Unfortunately, these drums don't come with a carry bag. And, at the price point of $400, many drum enthusiasts prefer other drums.
The Guda steel drum is a large steel tongue drum. But its large size doesn't affect its weight. Surprisingly, it weighs only 4 pounds. It is based on the arcane scale and uses the notes A C D E F G A C.
The engraved design makes for an appealing aesthetic that most buyers are drawn to. And, of course, the drum has a higher price ($300-900) than some of the previous tank drums on the list. Therefore, if you want to buy this drum, you must ensure that you like the scale and the design.
You can have a customized scale for this tank drum. Plus, the design generates a lot of attention from the listeners if you play the steel drum in public.
However, because it is supposed to be flashy, it doesn't have a minimalistic design option. Therefore, if you want a plain drum, you must get something else.
Moreover, the amount of ornamental work on the steel tongue drum dampens the sound. Therefore, they are not as loud as plain steel drums.
The Meinl Sonic Energy is another great steel drum on our list. The hand drum is 12" and is not tunable. However, these drums are built to last and can be played by hand.
The Meinl Sonic Energy drum has a steel frame that's crafted with state-of-the-art precision engineering. The frame is coated with black power to protect the paint. Unlike other drums that use major scales, this steel drum uses an A minor scale.
Because it uses a minor scale, it's a handpan drum. These drums can be played with a hand or drum mallets.
This tank drum is great for both beginners and experienced drum enthusiasts. However, there are better choices than this if you want a great design.
The Zenko Equinox is a hank drum tuned to the Equinox scale. It is a hand drum and can play the notes G B C D E F#. The G, B, and D are repeated in another octave. The harmonics are different depending on whether you use your hands or mallets.
However, the drum has a beautiful sound. It is around 13" and weighs over 7 pounds. Because it's such a big drum, it's a relief that it comes with a carrying bag.
These drums are believed to be the perfect instruments for entry-level players. Therefore, they would be great for kids who are just starting. Plus, they are built with creative players in mind. So, your child can try out a lot of different combinations.
The high harmonics of this steel tongue drum also make meditation easy and support music therapy.
However, the customization options are limited. And they will break your bank because they cost a lot for entry-level instruments. Their price ranges between $200-350.
Lomuty specializes in making tank drums. It's the only product they offer, along with singing bowls made of glass. Without a doubt, Lomuty offers exceptional quality.
The Lomuty brand made a name for itself by selling tank drums. Each of their tank drums is handcrafted and made with love.
This is a high-quality product. As such, it's made from high-end materials. The Lomuty tank drum is made for passionate musicians. It's for people who want to use the melody as a portal to connect with their inner selves.
This can easily contest for the position of the best steel tongue drum. And, of course, they can easily match any other drums on the list.
These tank drums are 12" in size. And Lomuty has a rigorous quality control procedure for their steel tongue drums. They ensure that both the tongues and the individual tongues resonate in the C major scale.
The notes don't cancel each other out. Instead, they reinforce the sound that's being produced. This allows Lomuty's percussion instruments to produce a synergistic sound.
These advanced steel drums allow you to experiment with music. However, you need to understand music theory better to succeed. Therefore, Lomuty is only advised for some beginners.
Steel tongue drums are a great idea for kids because they are easy to play. They produce a pleasant and soothing sound. It's a fun and engaging way for children to explore music and rhythm.
Additionally, they are durable. They can easily withstand the rough handling that often comes with being played by children.
Playing most steel tongue drums requires only basic coordination. It does not require the ability to read sheet music. This makes a steel tongue drum accessible for children of all skill levels.
It helps to build self-confidence and a sense of accomplishment for kids. It can especially help those kids who may have yet to succeed with other musical instruments.
The sound produced by a steel tongue drum is often described as soothing. This can have a positive impact on a child's emotional well-being. Playing the drum can also be a meditative and calming activity. It can help children to focus and relax.
It's a great way for children to explore music and rhythm in a hands-on and interactive way. This can foster a love of music and children's appreciation for the arts. This can have a positive impact on their overall development.
Calm Panda drums are the lightest and the most budget-friendly option out of all of the rest. They are handmade using a very high-quality steel alloy.
They can be played easily using different tutorials and won’t break the bank. The drums also come in six playful colors. The paint on these drums is lead-free and, hence, non-toxic.
If you are looking for the best steel tongue drum for your kid, Calm Panda is easily our top pick. They have the highest quality and come with a lifetime guarantee. However, these drums are sold in stores. Therefore, you need to buy it from their website.
So, what are you waiting for? Head to Calm Panda and get your kids the best steel tongue drum!