Fine tuning the pantam – #5

Its time to fine tune!
If you missed our last blog post int this series, now is the time to catch up.

After 7 days of our handpan being glued under good and equal pressure by the clamps, we can now take the clamps off.
Next we will cut the rest of the glue out and grind the rim with an edge grinder to dispose of any leftovers of the glue and create a smooth and soft rim.
We don’t want anybody to get cut while playing our precious handpan from a sharp rim!

Now it is time to start fine tuning our handpan!

After we applied great pressure by the clamps in the gluing process, the tensions in the shells have changed and our notes have gone a bit out of tune.
This part of the tuning process is very important and takes longer time to master. The challenge is that we are limited in what we can see. Part of the tuning process will happen from outside the shell, but some of the hammerings will need to be made from inside the instrument using the port on the bottom shell.
We will stick our hand with a small hammer inside the instrument through the port and hammer from inside when we need to. Now comes the best part of building a handpan!
Take off your headphones, wipe the sweat from your forehead, and enjoy playing for the first time this beautiful instrument which you have created!

I hope this article has been useful or just fun to read and it gave you a glimpse inside the world of handpan building. In case you decide to try some of the techniques in this article I wish you the best of luck and enjoyment in the process because, in the end, it all comes down to enjoy the process of what you build.