the HANDPAN BLACK BOOK

This book describes the fascinating history of a musical instrument that many also refer to as a sound sculpture. Developed in a small steelpan workshop in Switzerland, the HANG® from the company PANArt (1999/2000) has become highly sought after in a short time. Street musicians discovered these beautiful-looking and extraordinary-sounding instruments that are easy to learn. These handmade instruments became world-famous when the first Hang® videos, uploaded to the then-new online video platform YouTube, went viral.
A little later, the first replicas of the Hang® were created – and the handpan was born.

It is a declaration of love to the Handpan and to the Hang, a declaration of thanks to the creativity and the steel tuners from Trinidad to the Alps who pursue their passion as an art and not as a business.
This book also takes a critical look at the adventurous development history of the handpan, from the first attempts at replication to the lawsuit brought by a group of handpan manufacturers and dealers against PANArt, the inventor of the Hang.
The worldwide sales figures, as well as an insight into the tax files of major manufacturers, are proof of this: Handpans have become a multi-million dollar business.

This book (expected release date: Q1 2025) is a declaration of love to the Handpan and to the Hang, a declaration of thanks to the creativity and the steel tuners from Trinidad to the Alps who pursue their passion as an art and not as a business.

This book takes a critical look at the adventurous development history of the handpan, from the first attempts at replication to the lawsuit brought by a group of handpan manufacturers and dealers against PANArt, the inventor of the Hang®.
The worldwide sales figures, as well as an insight into the tax files of major manufacturers, are proof of this: Handpans have become a multi-million dollar business.

In this book, the author shares his very personal and very deep insights into, and also behind the scenes of, the Handpan Scene. He endeavors to present the beautiful aspects of the Hang® and Handpan in the fairest and most objective way possible, but also the dark side of a boom that has been usurped by unscrupulous profiteers. The history of the ‘Hang®’ is, like the history of the handpan, extremely complex. The long-standing tension between PANArt and the Handpan makers is complicated, to say the least.

It will be interesting to see what changes the Handpan itself, as well as the scene behind it, will experience after the final judgment regarding the protection of the ‘Hang® design‘ that is expected in the summer of 2025.

Quite apart from the author’s attempt to make these legal disputes comprehensible, he describes this book above all the huge creative potential that he suspects and experiences with this type of instrument and sound sculpture. Authentic voices of therapists, philosophers, professional musicians as well as hang and handpan enthusiasts round off the picture and give the reader a deep insight into the complex, often even confusing world of Handpans and the Hang®……..

visit “The HANDPAN BLACK BOOK” Website at https://handpan-blackbook.com