About 13 cm across, this small steel tongue drum has a domed top. Each tongue cut into the metal gives a different note. The surface is printed with an old world map, with a small Om sign in the centre. It weighs about 0.67 kg and was made in India.
An old world map on steel
The print shows an old, sepia-toned map: outlines of continents and the small lettered names of seas and countries, as if a page from an old atlas had been wrapped around the drum. If you or someone in your family likes old maps, there is plenty to read between tunes.
Your first tune, with fingers or mallets
You don't need any musical training. Strike the end of a tongue briefly with a rubber-tipped mallet or your fingertip and let it bounce off. You get a clear, ringing note that fades slowly.
Play the tongues one after another around the circle and a simple melody appears. If the mallet stays on the tongue, the note dies at once, so keep the movement short.
The body of the drum is hollow. It amplifies the vibration of the tongue, and the sound comes out through the round opening underneath. That is why it sounds better standing on its feet than gripped in your palm.
Where to put it and how to look after it
Three rubber feet underneath stop it sliding on a table. It is small enough to rest in your lap in an armchair, and when you are not playing it, it looks good on the corner of a desk.
Wipe the painted surface with a soft, dry cloth. Don't strike it with metal objects, and keep it somewhere dry.