Tips & guides

Giving a handpan as a gift when you know nothing about them: the four decisions to make

Scale, number of notes, pitch, budget: what you need to decide to give the perfect gift, and the fallback option.

From the Hang to the handpan: the story of an instrument born in the year 2000

Twenty-five years of history: the Swiss workshop, the organized shortage, and how the word "handpan" was born from a refusal.

Tongue drum for children: from what age, and what it’s like at home

Written for parents: real noise, durability, minimum age, and attention span. No exaggerated educational promises.

Second-hand handpan: the ten-minute inspection protocol

What to test, in what order, in front of the seller. And the three defects that should make you walk away.

Learning the handpan on your own: a realistic, week-by-week schedule

What you will be able to do after a week, a month, six months. Including the milestones no one talks about.

Handpan and meditation: what really happens when you play

Why the handpan is truly soothing: an acoustic and physiological explanation, free from mysticism.

Stainless steel or nitrided: what is the difference to the ear

Sustain, timbre, maintenance, and corrosion resistance: what really sets the two materials apart, and which one to choose based on your use.

Tongue drum: 8, 11 or 15 tongues, which one to choose

What the number of strings really changes: melodic range, ease of targeting, and the instrument's bulk.

Transporting a handpan without damaging it

Car, train, plane: precautions to maintain tuning, and the three mistakes that most often damage an instrument while traveling.

Case, tripod, cloth: which accessories are actually useful

What really protects the instrument, what improves playability, and what provides comfort. Three accessories are enough to cover the essentials.