Post #818900 by lauwrence on Tue, Sep 15, 2026 8:14 PM

Hello,

I’m still gradually clearing out the family warehouse where all the furniture from my uncle’s bar has been sitting since it closed. There are mugs, fabrics, bamboo lamps we don’t even really know where some of them came from anymore a whole bunch of stuff that I’m taking inventory of as I go. Three weeks ago, I was planning a little get-together with friends who are into exotic culture, just to show them what I’d salvaged, and I wanted something more than just a playlist playing in the background. One of the guests a mug collector who already plays the ukulele at these kinds of gatherings suggested I add live percussion instead of just background music. We thought about traditional Polynesian percussion, but I don’t know enough about it, and to be honest, I’m just starting to discover this type of instrument. While searching, I came across steel-tongue drums; they seemed like they’d fit the vibe we were going for something between deep and melodic. I ended up ordering a small model from a website, in a pentatonic scale, to see if the sound matched the vibe we were looking for... Around $120 for 8 notes that seemed reasonable to me for testing it out without committing too much financially. We tried it out during the evening, alternating it with the ukulele, and honestly, the sound blended pretty well with the rest of the decor and the bar’s subdued lighting. Has anyone here ever tried this kind of combination for an “exotica” vibe?