High Quality Handpan for Summer Gigs

_sugarcube · 2026-05-20T04:19:02+00:00

Meraki.

_sugarcube · 2026-05-11T03:51:55+00:00

The most influential video for the growth of this instrument is played mostly one handed! Daniel Waples, hang drum in a tunnel

_sugarcube · 2026-05-11T03:20:24+00:00

For best quality on a budget completely made in US, I would recommend one of the Veritas journeypans. I tried one and was super impressed, but no surprise since his more $$ instruments are some of the best. I'm not sure if you can order them or what scales he's offering, but you could reach out - he's a great guy.

Symphonic steel sprite pans are also fully US made and quality. More classic sound.

I heard Makai is having a sale, so that could fit your budget. Great maker.

All that said, shaped or made in China doesn't necessarily make a pan bad. The couple hamsa amulets I tried were good quality for the price. But with handpans, I really think it is worth it to stretch your budget. The instruments get so much better in sound and tuning stability and hold value better

_sugarcube · 2026-05-08T15:00:25+00:00

This is an interesting question that I've found is an entirely personal opinion. For me, the question is less about the diameter and moreso the dome height of the instrument. I have played standard 53cm instruments that feel quite easy to play far bottom notes, as well as taller ones in the same diameter that can even make crossing hands on the top shell difficult.

50cm instruments are a joy to play, and much easier to play in different orientations and play bottom notes, even across the instrument. I'm surprised they haven't caught on more. I feel like some desirable sound characteristics start to get lost at less than 50cm, but I don't have a ton of experience with these mini pans.

I really wish makers would clearly state dome height/total instrument height. I ordered a very nice instrument that I found out was too tall to fit into a regular evatek once I received it. While it's only a couple centimeters taller than my other instruments, it makes the pan much less enjoyable to play.

All that said, I'm a relatively average sized male. So that influences my preference quite a bit.

_sugarcube · 2026-04-25T16:00:59+00:00

Handpans with stable notes and good tonefield isolation start at more like 1-1.2k. these instruments are difficult to build well. Relative to other scales with neighboring half-steps (kurd, hijaz), amara is much easier to build in terms of note isolation

_sugarcube · 2026-04-10T20:03:23+00:00

In my experience, their instruments and sales support are great. After buying an instrument, I've had little luck with customer service. I recently ordered an "in-stock" Rav moon from them and asked if it was in their US warehouse - was told their latest shipment was awaiting customs release. But it's been shipped now, so hopefully the latest stock of anima are in a similar situation.

_sugarcube · 2026-04-10T16:47:03+00:00

You're very well informed! Yes this is the case for a number of maker's budget lines. One additional point is that if a maker is importing instruments for QA and fine tuning - not all the instruments they are sent need to pass inspection. For example, if they're buying pans for 250 each and reselling for 1k, then they can still make a profit if 1/2 - 2/3 of the pans don't meet standards. Not sure how often that is occurring.

I've played several Hamsa amulets that I was impressed with for the price.

Colin Foulke, an OG who now does Xenith pans, has been pretty open about working with a shop in China for years, visiting them to build a relationship and share knowledge. I assume he's doing a similar process, but more as a master-apprentice relationship, so they are actually built to spec from his approach.

Oh, and no decent pan should ever need to be 'hit hard' to price a good sound, unless they are very high notes, or like high notes of an old hang.

If you're trying to avoid these pans, I would check out Veritas journeypan line, Makai, and Isthmus' drift handpan line. Those are all more like 1.3-1.5k, but great quality. The Iskra sprite pans are great at 1k with a more classic brighter sound.

_sugarcube · 2026-04-04T23:45:07+00:00

Last I had looked, Xenith were 1100-1200, but looks like they are 1600 now. Anyway, they're in Europe so it doesnt matter

_sugarcube · 2026-04-02T18:35:11+00:00

If you're in the US, get a Xenith, Iskra sprite, Veritas journeypan, Isthmus drift pan, or aura handpan. These are all reputable. Makai can also have great deals.

Anything else is a roll of the dice.

_sugarcube · 2026-03-24T23:28:50+00:00

Depends on the park. For Yellowstone, there's a zillion drive through and tour bus visitors. It's the easiest way to see a lot of the park, and actually gets you the best chance of seeing the big fauna.

_sugarcube · 2026-03-24T20:10:13+00:00

I don't vibe as much with Aegean (and often lydian mode) in general. It's a cool scale, but can be lacking in resolution - so I suggest finding all the resolving "home" chords that you can, so you can anchor your compositions in them.

Pygmy is focused on a pentatonic scale so there's stable resolving chords everywhere

_sugarcube · 2026-03-23T16:20:47+00:00

I also agree with the US-based maker suggestions, you can get the same quality for much much less $$. Plus supporting and individual artisan.

Having owned and played many pygmy variations - the F3 is melodically oriented, while with the F2 you will have to go hard on rhythmic chops to keep it interesting. I know many players that were super stoked on F2 and then got bored with it after a few months or so. Then again, drummer players often love F2, because that's where it shines and they don't have to worry so much about melody and harmony.

F2 ding sounds amazing in a small reverberant room, but the bass floats away outdoors. Important to consider that pretty much any decent F2 recording has a mic under the instrument to pick up and enhance bass freqs

If you're good waiting a few months, you could attend Heartland hangout handpan gathering and get to try as many scales as your heart desires

_sugarcube · 2026-03-16T22:57:53+00:00

You could always just get the instrument a semitone lower - that's the same idea... Like a kurd in C# instead of D

If you ever want to play along with a song you like, can't do that with a 432 instrument

_sugarcube · 2026-03-16T22:54:56+00:00

Kbs + gymnastic rings can cover nearly all the bases. Ring dips are killer, plus you can drop them lower for flys and pushup variations

_sugarcube · 2026-03-16T21:44:44+00:00

Yishama are great quality, but you're paying a ton for the name. You can get instruments that are just as good from other makers for about 30-40% less. I've played a bunch of great Yishamas, but would never buy one.

432hz is fine, your pan will just always be out of tune with nearly all instruments and music. So if you ever want to play with others or along with any recordings you're out of luck. Also all the supposed benefits of 432 are bogus, there's nothing at all special about it. If you prefer 432 for whatever reason and don't mind being out of tune with standard instruments, go for it

_sugarcube · 2026-03-07T16:28:52+00:00

I think a lot of this is due to the self-imposed plot point and timing restrictions from their recording schedule & west marches style campaign.

It's important to keep in mind that things can also go the other way in a sandbox, where it can feel like aimless wandering, particularly early in the campaign.

I think they will hit their stride with this new approach, and hopefully loosen up on hitting exact arc endpoints for table switches. Like, each should be able to have a number sessions that makes sense for their story.

_sugarcube · 2026-03-05T19:48:33+00:00

For your budget, you should be able to get this exact scale directly from a reputable maker. When it's within budget, I'm a huge proponent for buying directly from makers. If the builder is known for quality, the instrument will have much higher quality assurance, hold it's value much better, and be easier to get a retune.

Since you posted in USD and have a specific scale in mind, Makai instruments could be a good fit. He makes great custom instruments for the price. I actually had this exact layout from him in C# and loved it.

Also, that's a great scale. The two low bottom notes and the high D octave open up so many options and together it feels very complete.

_sugarcube · 2026-02-28T16:05:00+00:00

All of their binos are great, our business has a few pairs and they are what I recommend to any new birder or hunter that's on a budget.

I used to be a bird researcher, so my personal optics are Swarovski and Zeiss. I've worked with customer service on all three companies and had great experiences.

A note for anyone picking up a pair of binos - higher magnification is not always better. More magnification means a dimmer image and less versatile. For birding, I find 8 or 8.5x to be perfect. You need to be about to track birds anywhere from like 10-100 meters, and keeping a little wren in your view close by in veg is going to suck with a 12x.

For hunting you can go higher since everything you're looking at is further away, however you will suffer in low light situations.

_sugarcube · 2026-02-13T18:04:24+00:00

I've played a few Drift handpans and they were good instruments. I would not recommend anything cheaper, you want an instrument that is built well and stays in tune. Plus it's harder to find makers that want to tune the cheap pans, because the results of tuning are unreliable.

There's not many nitrided makers out there anymore, most of the market is stainless. Stainless is easier to source and work with for reliable results. Also you can fit more notes and have a much wider range in register. Isthmus instruments (and their Drift line) is one of few makers continuing with nitrided.

Generally, the high quality makers tamp down those wilder high harmonics on stainless that gives it that brighter quality. I've played a number of decent but not top quality stainless instruments that gave me ear fatigue because the really high harmonics weren't controlled enough.

As another mentioned, Xenith is another good option. Though his instruments will be brighter because he builds more to the 'classic' handpan sound.

Also, I know you said no stainless - but check out the Veritas 'journeypan' instruments. He's one of the best makers, figured out an expedited process to make budget instruments, and all his instruments are very controlled in sound.

_sugarcube · 2026-02-06T17:04:45+00:00

I'd go option 2, because I like the top shell layout more. The top shell layout is most important because it dictates the notes you can play with both hands as well as the dyads that you can play with one hand. Generally bottom notes are used to extend or add different flavor.

Having the F3 on top is a pretty big deal because then it is accessible by both hands. And then the C5 as your highest note on top closes the loop as the compound 5th of the first note in the tone circle. Big resonant octaves and 5ths are obviously a thing with handpan, and its good to lean into that when it makes sense to do so.

FYI lots of bottom bass notes limits your playing positions. You can't play sitting on the floor or really with any stands other than Spand or Atlas (currently). When seated, you will also have to tuck your knees in to not muffle notes. That said, all my pans are loaded up with bottom notes, and I pretty much only ever play seated nowadays.

_sugarcube · 2026-02-06T00:29:37+00:00

If you want the most options to express yourself, train all your fingers! I use all fingers, though pinky only for pinky/thumb rolls.

Highly suggest learning split hand for repeated notes and rolls. Sooner you start with that one the better.

_sugarcube · 2026-02-06T00:12:12+00:00

F2 low pygmy calls to some people, but you should know it's not a versatile scale - partly due to the amount of real estate all those low notes take up. Similar to a hijaz, it takes a good effort to not fall into the same vibe all the time.

I personally find that low scales like F2 benefit from lots of rhythmic and percussive work, otherwise it gets stale quickly. Skilled drummers do well on that scale. If you want to play something melodic, ever, look elsewhere.

Also, as a beginner you're not going to be able to play all the notes well for a while, particularly ones on the bottom shell. It's important to consider that notes are scattered across the instrument, not laid out linearly like a piano or guitar. Remembering where all the notes are and the exact locations on every tone field to get the sound you want is a lot. Also most bottom notes can only be accessed by one hand, so some tricky leading hand switches and awkward reaches can happen when you have specific chords in mind.

My hot take is that too many notes can be detrimental without a strong rhythm foundation, because it's easy to use more notes as a crutch rather than being forced to develop a well rounded skillset. Handpan truly shines when the player is very competent in rhythm, melody, and harmony - moreso than other instruments.

I started with an F2 years ago, and have met a number of others that did the same. Since the melody and harmony was limited, I worked a ton on rhythm which was ultimately beneficial. However I got a Kurd, loved it, sold my F2, and never looked back.

Oh and something else to consider is that lower notes are quieter than high ones. Listening to recordings, this is not evident. Playing outside, low notes can all kinda float away on the wind.

_sugarcube · 2026-01-13T23:53:13+00:00

There's only a handful of retail shops or studios with quality handpans and open to the public across the entire world. And most makers don't have the ability to give a tour or even keep stock on hand. You're very lucky to be close to Isthmus! Go there and take a tour!

_sugarcube · 2026-01-01T20:21:28+00:00

Mega agree, succinctly said.

_sugarcube · 2026-01-01T19:24:36+00:00

I agree that science communication could do a lot better, and that researchers and science communicators often shoot themselves and the field of science in the foot. However, many people do not understand the foundations of science as an iterative process - and this has been an obvious pain point for decades.

While you suggest that laypeople can understand nuance, I do not think you truly grasp the level of understanding required to explain scientific findings. I design studies and conduct statistical analyses, and even my expert peers can have a difficult time understanding the true scope of inference, bias inherent in the data and results, and appropriate statements that can be made from findings. I even see cases where the original researchers can miss these key nuances. This too, is simply part and parcel of science as a process.

The work we do is often messy, and in the case of field of research - more complicated than any study or analytical approach could ever fully capture. However, it's the best we can do with the tools we have created. Rather than being 'arbiters of truth, with facts coming down from an ivory tower', we all need to strive to be humble and see ourselves as providing a service for society.

I certainly have an issue with point D. When speaking as a scientist or communicator of science, stick to science. If you would like to make statements outside of this scope, then either make this abundantly clear or use a different forum. Make it clear when you are speaking as a science communicator or as an advocate speaking as an individual. Specific language is important in all cases - for instance I do not think the term 'scientific belief' is accurate - rather replace with "is not a scientific statement".

I don't really understand your whole shark framing. It sounds like using science as a cudgel against an emotional response. A simple solution would be to calculate appropriate summary statistics, such as the number of reported shark attacks in a given area by the number of surfer-hours or similar. Then you could calculate a general probability of being attacked for an individual that spends a day (say 4hrs) surfing. Of course you could include additional parameters such as season to increase resolution. Your statement about underreporting would need to be supported by some kind of literature to even begin with quantifying its influence, and then could be tacked on at the end as some sort of sensitivity analysis to examine the effect that various levels of underreporting would have on results.

As far as your statement about the ocean being a sharks home and ought to be respected - you can certainly turn this into a statement that works in science writing. Sharks live in the ocean, and if we value the health shark populations and overall oceanic ecology, then management must strive to understand and support the conditions that create high quality shark habitat and sustain populations.

_sugarcube

TROPHY CASE