Because it requires no sheet music or prior knowledge, the handpan invites people to connect with their intuition and feeling, rather than relying on mental constructs.

Many describe the handpan as sounding like a cross between a harp, steel drum, and singing bowl — yet unlike anything else.

The handpan was first created in 2001 by Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer in Switzerland. They were inspired by the steelpan (from Trinidad and Tobago), gongs, gamelan instruments, and the physical and tonal beauty of the Indian ghatam. Their goal was to create an instrument that could blend melody, harmony, and rhythm into one intuitive experience — an instrument you could hold in your lap and feel through your hands.

What they developed was originally called the “Hang” (pronounced “hong”), meaning “hand” in the Bernese German dialect. It was a completely new acoustic invention — shaped like two convex steel bowls joined together, tuned to produce a central note surrounded by a circle of additional harmonically related notes.