9-Note Handpan

A 9-note handpan most often features 8 notes arranged in a circle around the ding, which counts as the ninth note. This is known as an 8 + 1 configuration and refers to exactly the same instrument. The ding is the tonic of the entire scale—the anchor note to which the ear naturally returns. For example, a 9-note handpan in D Kurd has a low D in the centre, with the other 8 notes arranged around it. They alternate from left to right in ascending order, beginning with the lowest note at the bottom of the circle. This layout is known as a zigzag pattern.

This collection offers a very wide selection of scales. D Kurd remains the most popular handpan scale. You’ll also find more than twenty distinct scale families, from Amara and Hijaz to Low Pygmy and Sabye, and most of these handpans are available in 440 or 432 hertz.

No, a 9-note handpan does not limit your progress as long as you play solo. Its limitations mainly become apparent when you want to perform with another handpan player or a musician playing a different instrument.

The richness of a handpan comes first and foremost from your touch. A well-mastered 9-note handpan offers more musical possibilities than a 20-note handpan used to only half its potential, thanks to nuances, ghost notes, and rim strikes.

No, it is not possible to add a note to your 9-note handpan once it has been made. Each note is hammered and tuned directly into the shell during production, and adding one afterward would require reshaping and retuning the entire instrument, potentially compromising the tuning of all the other notes. Each note is tuned to three frequencies at once: the fundamental, its octave, and the compound fifth. The more notes there are on the shell, the longer the tuning process takes.

Not necessarily: a 9-note handpan is not a separate size category. Many instruments of this type measure 55–58 cm (21.65–22.83 in) in diameter and weigh 4–6 kg (8.82–13.23 lb), which is in line with the standard diameter of a full-size handpan, approximately 53–56 cm (20.87–22.05 in). However, more compact 9-note handpans measuring 46 cm (18.11 in) in diameter are also available. You’ll find some in this size in this collection.