Handpan

Handpan: A Masterpiece of Art, Music, and Innovation

In recent years, the handpan has become increasingly popular among music enthusiasts, percussionists, and people looking for a soulful and meditative instrument.

What is a Handpan?

A handpan is a relatively new musical instrument that originated in 2000. It is a steel percussion instrument that is played by hand, using a combination of tapping, slapping, and hitting techniques.

The instrument has a central dome-shaped resonating chamber with a series of tuned tone fields around the top. The craftsmanship and design of a handpan turn it into an artwork with stunning visuals.

The handpan belongs to the idiophone family, that are the instruments creating sound through vibrating, rather than the strings or air.

The sound is created by affecting the air inside, released through a hole in the bottom half of the handpan.

This instrument is made of two completely separate metal parts. The Ding side or the upper shell on which the notes are located, the Gu Side or the lower shell which has a hole in the center.

Each note on the handpan instrument has a special space called Tone Field, which is usually circular or oval. New research in the field of note form shows that the oval shape for the tone field of handpan notes creates a better result in the field of resonance, volume and stability of the handpan sound and also provides more possibilities for creating sound effects. Pindrum follows this style.

Steel versus stainless steel hand pan:

Steel handpans produce short resonating sounds and are susceptible to rusting and corrosion. That’s why the handpan manufacturers use nitrogen, carbon or ceramic coatings to protect it.

Stainless steel handpans have deep and long resonating sound and are resistant to rust and oxidation. Due to their smooth surface, they create a more refined and polished sound with fewer overtones and more focused tone. They also require less maintenance compared to steel handpans.

Both steel and stainless steel handpans are popular options, and the choice ultimately depends on the player’s personal preferences and playing style.

The steel handpans are mainly used by the players who have a more percussive and fast-playing approach to the instrument.
The stainless handpan are great choice for a more meditative, relaxing and melodic style of playing.

Manufacturing process of Hand pan

The manufacturing process of a handpan is complex, with a skilled artisan shaping and tuning the discs to produce the desired note combination and sound. The first step is to create the initial shape of the metal. This involves heating the metal and hammering it into a concave shape. Each handpan has a particular tonality that depends on several factors, including the metal’s thickness, the shape, and the number of notes on it.

Tuning process of Handpan

The tuning process involves adjusting the size and shape of the handpan’s notes by hammering the metal in precise locations to produce the desired pitch. This is a delicate process and requires great skill and patience. Therefore, the manufacturer will often need to repeat this process multiple times until each note is perfectly in tune with the others. The hammering process gives the handpan its unique blend of harmonics, overtones, and sustain.

Our Hand pan: a cooperative product of Majiddrums and Pindrum(Pouya Inanlou), a more professional look at Handpan

From people’s point of view, Hangdrum or Handpan is a harmonic, relaxing and warm instrument that has developed in recent years.
This percussion instrument with good sounding musical notes has a complex structure. For this reason, it is necessary to have sufficient knowledge and information when buying this percussion. A good handpan has the following characteristics:

• Perfect sound
• High quality of materials
• Beautiful appearance
• High resistance to strong blows
• Clear sound without additional frequencies

The alloy used in our handpan

There are hundreds of types of stainless steel alloys. Thus, stainless steel is an alloy that contains various elements that resist corrosion or rust by preventing iron from oxidizing. In most stainless alloys, chromium and nickel elements are added to iron to enhance its property. Chromium is a hard and corrosion-resistant metal. The amount of chromium and nickel in steels varies between 12% and 18%. Chromium oxide creates a type of alloy resistance against oxygen, moisture and high temperature.

The distinctive feature of our hand pan

Based on lots of knowledge and experience in the science of metallurgy and the focus on making quality instruments, Pindrum started its activity in the field of making stainless instruments with the best material imported from Spain.
Pindrum’s purpose for choosing this material is to create a better sound quality, a distinctive appearance and to increase the durability of the instrument. One of the distinctive features of pin drum stainless instruments is the clarity and smoothness of the sound of each note, which is rarely seen in similar stainless instruments in the market.

To learn more about the handpan, Majiddrums together with Pindrums offers those interested a brief explanation of the structure and arrangement of notes on this instrument. In addition to the nature of the sound and its resonance, the production principles are discussed and three important questions are answered.

• Is the instrument you own or will buy perfect?
• Does this instrument need to be tuned?
• Why do the instruments available on the market have different prices?

These questions can actually be discussed in detail, however, here are some briefly answers to the most important questions:

• the word “perfect” must be described. Many of the handpan in the world do not have a perfect sound because the manufacturing techniques of this instrument are complicated. Many instrument makers have presented an imperfect version of the handpan with an unpleasant sound of the metal material.
• What is the reason?

Each handpan note contains at least three frequencies depending on the scale chosen.

Striking the middle of the notes with a finger or hand creates a dreamlike sound resonance, which, however, is usually imperceptible to the listener.

Striking on the lower side of the note produces the sound of the next octave. The beat on the side of the note (left and right) produces the sound of the fifth interval of the main note. In most handpans in the world, this sound, which is seven semitones higher, is not present or has a low frequency.

Note: Pin Drum, with technical skill in construction, has presented a very clear fifth interval with a beautiful resonance.

Handpan are made of metal and metal is usually exposed to heat and cold. Also, if played too hard, the tuning can change over time. This will cause the notes to become out of tune. A skilled handpan maker can avoid all these imperfections

•  Based on physics and knowledge of metals and many experiments, we have managed to produce instruments that are at least 5 times more stable in terms of tuning than instruments on the market.

The price differences in the market is directly related to the long and careful production time which makes our quality.

We have taken all the above principles into consideration when manufacturing our handpans and by using the highest quality metal shell and best glue, precise art and the science of hammers it produces one of the best in the world for the fans. The fact that our instruments have a high reputation in the circles of famous musicians can only underline this fact.

We are proud to present our new Handpan