Descubra o Handpan!

In the year 2000, the Swiss company PanArt introduced a newly created instrument called hang®. The original one was inspired by the steel pan, a traditional Caribbean instrument in which PanArt specialised several years before. The idea came from the percussionist Reto Webe which played an Indian instrument called Gatham. He had the desire of merging Gatham with the Steel pan to give it notes. Two steel pan shells were put together, with 7 notes been tuned in only one of the 2 shells. With this shape, he now could play this instrument with his hands, like a Gatham, but also with notes like a Steel Pan (the steel pan was originally played with mallets). For several years PanArt was the only company to build these instruments, but later on, several makers were inspired to build their own version. Since the name hang® is a registered trademark, the name Handpan was given as a generic. Some makers and players prefere to call it Pantam (Pan + Gatham), which would be an more accurate name, preserving the fusion of both original instrument's name. Currently there are hundreds of Handpan makers around the world, each one bringing its unique qualities.