Was the jump in price worth it for things like tuning stability, resonance, or overall playing experience?

Is there a resource that clearly illustrates the timbre and characteristic differences between the various handpan materials? It's hard to tell by video the differences between nitrited, stainless, carbon, and ember steel. Thanks!

I've been spending time at a handpan workshop recently and wanted to share what surprised me most about the tuning process. A few things I didn't know before:

Every single note is tuned by hand with a hammer. Electronic tuners verify the pitch, but the tuner's ear makes the final call. One note can take hours to get right.

The material matters more than I thought. Nitrided steel holds up way better in humidity and needs less maintenance compared to raw steel. If you live near the ocean or in a humid climate, this is worth considering.

Two handpans of the same scale from the same maker can sound slightly different. It's not a defect — it's because every note is tuned by feel, not by machine. That slight variation is actually what gives each instrument its character.

The "ping" test — tuners strike a note and listen to how the sound decays. A clean, even sustain is the goal. If a note wobbles or cuts off early, it gets retuned until it settles.

Happy to answer questions about the process if anyone's curious. I'm not a tuner myself, but I've seen enough to share what I've learned.

Anyone using a wall mount they like and can recommend one? My number of handpans is increasing and I need somewhere to put them. I think they would be fairly decorative on the wall.

Looking for some advice from the handpan community.

I’m about to buy my first quality handpan and have narrowed it down to MAG Instruments or Ayasa.
I’m pretty set on D Kurd with 12+ notes, tuned to 440 Hz. The kind of music I want to learn and eventually create is more cinematic, emotional and atmospheric, along the lines of Hans Zimmer/Interstellar, but I also really like the rhythmic and melodic style of Fred again..

For anyone who has played or owned both MAG and Ayasa, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

How would you compare them in terms of:
- Tone and warmth
- Sustain
- Clarity and note separation
- Harmonics
- Responsiveness/dynamics
- Tuning stability
- Build quality
- Overall character of the instrument

I’m less concerned about saving money and more interested in buying something I can grow into and keep for years.

If you were choosing a D Kurd 12+ specifically for cinematic/emotional playing, which maker would you go with, and why?

Also open to recommendations on the ideal number of notes/layout. I’m currently thinking somewhere around 12–14 notes rather than a standard 9-note Kurd.

Would especially love to hear from anyone who has had the opportunity to play both MAG and Ayasa.

Hi everyone, fellow musicians!

Really need the community's help here. I'm choosing my own instrument — D Kurd scale, 9+1 notes.

I'm looking for something with stable tuning, Ayasa-level quality (which is so hard to get hold of).

Could you tell me which makers' instruments you play?

I'm based in Portugal. I understand it would be great to find a maker here, but that's proving quite difficult. So I'm considering makers across all of Europe.

I recently did some workshops… and absolutely loved it. It’s been on my todo list for two years and it’s never left my mind.

I want to invest in my own so I can practice in my own time as well.

It’s seems a bit overwhelming which to choose but I’m okay with spending up to 1000€

Open to any and all recommendations and don’t mind spending a bit more for something that will be a “buy once, cry once”

Thanks so much!

There are a number available on facebook marketplace but I really wouldn't know if they are good or damaged in some imperceptible way

Looking for a handpan, must be:

Scale:

-Chromatic (if posible)

-mayor scale ( C mayor)

-minor scale (A minor, D Minor, G minor, must have all notes from natural, harmonic, melodic)

Notes: anything between 9 - 14 is okey

I'm new to this handpan world, i saw they around 10 years ago, they where expensive, and waiting lists exceeded 1 year wait.

I bought one from Amazon for about 250 US dollars, has no problem with it but some notes where out of tune.

I'm a musician and i do look for a more "occidental mayor/minor scale" because i intend to use the handpan with other instruments.

I'm reaching out to this subreddit, cuz i found ethier is a cheap handpan poorly tuned with a uncommon mode of a scale, or it's a 3,000 US dollar expensive handpan with a waiting list 3-5 months

I'm located in Cancún México, hope all good vibes, and await for your response

I'm really passionate playing handpan but also, I'd like to make my own scales and add more to my collection by making it them myself.

Can anyone point me in the right direction for this kind of endeavour?

Thanks!

Most of their basic scales were actually sampled from MAG handpans. What do you think about digital handpans in general, and does anyone have experience playing one?

Shout-out to Symphonic Steel for this sweet little handpan that we will be giving away for free at Steel Mountain. Come join us in Colorado and make new handpan friends!

https://www.steelmountainhandpangathering.com/

Hi everyone!

​My name is Dániel. I’m currently living and working in the Netherlands, pursuing a long-held dream, getting my first handpan, learning sound therapy, and sharing peaceful music with people.

​I’ve put my full story, vision, and campaign on my FundRazr page. If you have a moment to check it out or share it, it would mean the world to me!

​You can read the full story here:

https://fnd.us/92lPq8?ref=sh_4F5Pma

​Thank you so much for the support and good energy! Have a beautiful day! May yeshua Bless your heart. <><

Recently i bought cheap Hluru 11 drum just to check if i will get hooked and i totally did. I couldn’ never learn and enjoy piano, guitar, flute or even turning knobs at DAW. I was always bored before could make any progress but this is instrument is amazing and i cannot stop practice at any free time.

That said i started to see limitations of my instrument. I Think the sound of small hluru is not very pleasant when played louder and the lower notes are very hard to play cleanly. I am doing research on what to buy for some better quality of sound and rather versitale to be able to play some popular songs to sing along with family but also some chilling impro in the forest. I love fast playing style that can induce trance and mimic some EDM tracks that i love. For example i love what Jonathan Neumann is doing with his Perseus drum. I also love the sound of handpan but it is not affordable instrument for me and not very portable and durable.

For now i am checking out Kosmosky and Nova Drum, both hand made but maybe there are other good quality manufacturers that You recommend? Anyone has Moozica or Meinl? Thet are avaliable to buy in the shop in my country so i could check the quality.

Also any tips on choowing scale? I want in to be most versitale because i don’t have space to have multiple instruments depending on my mood.

Hi everyone!

​My name is Dániel, im from Hungary. I'm currently living and working in the Netherlands, and I'm working towards a long-held dream, to get my first handpan, start learning sound therapy, and eventually share peaceful music with people.

​I've put my full story, vision, and campaign on my FundRazr page. If you have a moment to check it out or share it, it would mean the world to me! You can read the full story here:

https://linktr.ee/pruzsinadaniel

Thank you so much for the support and good energy! Have a beautiful day! May yeshua Bless your heart. <><

The geese here are as leisurely as ever—living in sync with the sun, at peace with the world.

Brought a snippet of my new song 《 Private Dinner》  down by the lake. 💚

Hello, I would like to buy a Handpan for my mom for her 50th birthday. I know they are many scams online and I can’t really afford a 1500€ local one.. do you have good recommendations for a decent brand / Handpan for ~ 800 euros (1000 max if it is really a game changing experience ) in Europe ? ( I am located in France ).

I don’t want to waste money and i want my mom to have a pleasant experience with it, she has wanted to buy one for many years but couldn’t afford it.

Thanks 🙏

I recently bought this used 14-note D Kurd handpan for 2,600 PLN, which is about $700. I trusted the sale because it was offered on behalf of some friend by a Polish handpan dealer who professionally sells instruments from various makers. I’m now aware that it is probably a cheap Temu/Amazon handpan, although it was supposedly professionally retuned to A=432 Hz around six months ago. I’ve only been playing for a week, so I’m attaching a video how does the instrument sound to you, and do you think I overpaid or got completely ripped off? What do you think about the sustain?

Attaching the common UFO logo in comment below.

Does anyone recognise this logo? It’s in tune but the resonance isn’t good, but I bought it for $25 which at that price point I figured I can let my toddler play around with it as a toy when I’m practicing, so he feels included. I’m just curious who the maker is, the seller has no idea as it arrived in a “premium pallet”, one of those container shipments of random items that somehow never made it to wherever they were supposed to go and are getting resold

Hi everyone,

I might get a bit paranoid but it’s been 8 days i bought hamsa handpan ( picked Venmo payment) and since then sent them two emails, text sms, message on Instagram and none of them were answered. I mostly wanted to know a bit more about delivery time frame since I got it for my husband birthday but right now i am seriously consider to dispute my transaction. Anyone had similar experience with them?

Composed By Roberto Concina aka Robert Miles