Handpan

The handpan is a relatively new musical instrument which was inspired by the steel drum and other various instruments of the world, such as the Udu, or "pottery drum". The term handpan is a variation on the true name of the steel drum, steelpan. The handpan's name was born of the fact that one of its major departures from traditional steelpan is the use of the hands rather than mallets.

The original handpan is the Hang, invented in Switzerland by Felix and Sabina Rohner around the year 2000. It should be noted that Felix and Sabina prefer to avoid classifying the Hang as a handpan, drum, or even an instrument, and this page does not attempt to challenge this. Since their remarkable discovery many have begun producing their own interpretations of the Hang, with a myriad of results. As more and more handpan makers appear across the globe, the intention of this article is to organize and present information on each maker's creations.

A forum exists, where handpan and related topics are discussed, called www.handpan.org. There is also a website specific to the Hang with more information.