Beautiful 9 note handpan tuned to perfection. These drums are often referred to as hang drum, hand pan, pantam, steel tongue drum. This drum was created by a Vietnamese handpan maker. The maker begins by "sinking" the shells, which are the two steel halves of the drum. These begin as flat sheets, and are cut and bent into concave shapes for tuning. This part of the process is machine assisted.
 
Then, the "note fields" are applied to the drum. This involves tracing an exact template of where each dimple will be hammered into the shell, depending on the size of the drum, material it is made from, and the scale desired. The next step is to carefully hammer the notes into place, a process that takes several weeks for each drum! Day by day, the maker slowly hammers the notes into the shell, taking care to create an equal amount of depth in each one as they go on. Like the application of the note fields, this part of the process is extremely specialised, and is impossible to do with machines. No manufacturer in the world has successfully mass produced handpan drums, and they remain an artisan instrument.
 
After the lengthy tuning process, the shells are heat treated, and nitrided to prevent rust. They are then painted very carefully so as not to affect the tuning, which is very precise. Then, the instrument is ready to be played and bring the gift of its music to the world. These drums are used as much for sound healing and personal meditation as for public performance.
 
Please use headphones to enjoy the video demonstration.