NH Chronicle: The Sound of Handpan
It sounds like a UFO and otherworldly.
Last updated: November 7, 2023 at 8:00 PM ET
The instruments are made right here in New Hampshire. What musician Richard Hilson has packed into these bags is part of a new frontier of sound, so to speak. We met him just across the border in Pepperell, Massachusetts. It’s an abandoned orchard that was donated to Pepperell in the 1970s, a beautiful hiking spot, and a great place to play. Richard is here to play a percussion instrument called a handpan. I feel like the most beautiful place to engage with an instrument is in the natural world. You might be wondering what a handpan is. The handpan is an evolution of something called a hang, which was made in Bern, Switzerland, around 2000. The guy who made this was a steel drum tuner. So you can think of the handpan as halves of a steel drum glued together. Instead of playing with mallets like a steel drum, you play it with your hands. In just 20 years, these UFO-like instruments and one similar to it, known as the VAST on the right, have become increasingly popular. There were about 10 makers. From 2010 to now, there are over 400 makers worldwide. So we come to Milford, with its quaint downtown and annual Pumpkin Festival. And yes, the guy who fell in love with handpans. New Hampshire, thanks for joining me at Mountain Man Handpan Hammer Garage. Michael Linskey makes handpans for a living here in his workshop at home. Are there many people making these things in the United States? There are more people who have been in space than there are people making these things. He started his company, Mountain Man Handpans, after buying one handpan about six years ago. After getting his handpan in 2017, he drove to the top of Mount Washington, where he was playing his newly acquired handpan, and decided to take the plunge. I’m going to make one myself. Michael got so good at it that he even made a name for himself in the New Hampshire Craftsmen League. They use special steel shells. Michael hammers each piece to get the right sound, and presses in custom-sized indentations that help produce the tone. It takes about 30-60 hours to make one instrument. And each area is supposed to produce a certain tone, so it needs more hammering to tune. There is an octave sound field, and then there are octave overtones. So how will people react when they see this? A UFO? A turtle shell? A sidewalk? A grill? A mountain? Mann handpans are being shipped all over the Northeast to capitalize on the growing trend. Musicians like Richard Hilson have been doing reggae handpan concerts and are currently recording his third handpan album, this time in outdoor spaces across the country. Some are capturing the sounds of that wild space along with the beautiful sounds of the handpan. He also teaches classes in person and online. One of the attractions of the handpan is how easy it is to learn in just a few minutes. I was plucking my thumb like a champ. These relaxing tones are popular in places like yoga studios, but that may just be the beginning. I think we are on the crest of a wave that is about to break. Michael would like to see these sounds blend into other forms of popular music. Maybe it’s Shachi, Astra, or even a rock band. All you need for a handpan is your hands, so if a popular person gets one, everyone will want one too.
NH Chronicle: The Sound of Handpan
It sounds like a UFO and otherworldly.
Last updated: November 7, 2023 at 8:00 PM ET
Tonight we’re introducing you to some new sounds from a relatively new instrument called the handpan. The handpan is like a hand-held drum, and it turns out some of this instrument is made right here in New Hampshire. Plus, Halloween may be over, but stories of ghosts and strange happenings live on all year along the coast. Roxie Zwicker of New England Curiosities takes the curious on a walking tour that stops at all of the port city’s famous haunted spots. Fritz Weatherby’s New Hampshire: Weir’s Elm PeelingFor more on tonight’s story, visit: RewildYourSoulMountain Man HandpanNew England CuriositiesThis week’s host: MAXT Makerspace -Repair CafePeterborough, New Hampshire
November 7, 2023 —
Tonight, we’re going to introduce you to some new sounds from a relatively new instrument called a handpan, which is like a hand-held drum, and some of the instruments are made right here in New Hampshire.
Plus, although Halloween may be over, tales of ghosts and strange happenings live on all year along the coast, with Roxie Zwicker of New England Curiosities taking curious souls on a walking tour of the port city’s famously haunted spots.
About Fritz Weatherby’s “New Hampshire: Peeling Weir’s Elms”
For more on tonight’s news, see below.
Regenerate the soul
Mountain Man Handpan
New England Curiosities
This week’s host:
MAXT Makerspace – Repair Cafe
Peterborough, New Hampshire
