There’s an online handpan here that allows you direct access to the sound of handpan right from your browser. This one tune to D Kurd, a mix of pentatonic and minor scales.
The interface has two primary mode for playing. One involves tapping on the visual fields using either your touchscreen or your mouse. The other is mapping some keys on your computer keyboard to play the sounds directly. Either way give you the same kind of layered sound, allowing you to pick whichever method suits you best.
How to Play the Virtual Handpan
It revolves around the pan which is large center note (ding). From this you then have eight surrounding fields of tones laid out in a certain way that places the lower notes on the side nearest the ding (the lowest note are the tonal anchor). They move up and down from left to right in a zigzag fashion over the instrument. This promotes natural alternating between hands, as if you were playing a physical handpan with your thumb.
There’s also a key for each note alongside what that is on keyboard. It’s easy to play along using either touch or mouse. Tap (or click) anywhere in field to hit it. Multi-touch works in the interface too, allowing you to play with two hands if you have a phone or tablet.
Hitting it once produces a pure tone; hitting quickly generates rhythm. To visually confirm the strike, there is a subtle ripple and flash animation. This is helpful for tracking where your hand is playing. It is especially useful when staying in time with loop or playing a phrase with multiple hit.
Keys are mapped logicaly and simply. A single press of key one generate the central ding. Press the corresponding keys in numerical order for the rest of the sound fields around this note. Keys two through nine produces sounds from low to high. There’s no need to hold down Shift (or any other modifier key) to get them working. Tap the pan once to start audio and your keys will then react instantly to your taps. As a handy way to save time, spacebar plays the whole sweep of the scale again. To see how it all maps, hit the question mark key to toggle on help panel; that explains everything you need to know.
Below the pan are controls that shape what happens in the session. The play scale button take you across the full range of nine notes from low to high. That’s useful for hearing the entire scale at one go or checking if it is still tuned as expected.
The loop groove button plays an endless repeating ambient phrase. It’s kind of like a backing track on which you can improvise, testing out both melody and timing. The tempo slider changes how fast the loop sound by slowing it down into more meditative paces up to groovy beats. Right next to that, there’s a volume control so you can adjust the output level based off your listening space.
To play this way you alternate the ding with melody notes to create a heartbeat rhythm. It produces the heartbeat rhythm common in handpan music. There are no wrong notes because the whole instrument is tuned to one key. Every combination of notes sound harmonious and makes it easier to start playing. Tap around randomly and hear how they mix. Use the loop to provide a base for the improvisation. Build up simple two note pattern and build on them as you feel the flow.
The stereo panning feature broaden the sound field, adding depth with surrounding notes in left and right channels. Use the Fullscreen button to expand the widget to your whole screen and remove distractions. That leaves room for your field boundaries and note labels in a larger visual field. This is handy when working on a smaller laptop or if you like a clean visual field.
If you’ve forgotten where things are mapped to, the help panel will show you a quick summary of all the controls and layout. Leave it open until the number keys becomes second nature.
Tap that ding to get centered up then have a go at playing through the scale bottom to top. Try out the loop groove at a pace you feel good about. Embrace the natural resonance and let the notes ring into each other and beyond. Take your time. There’s no rush, there are no expectations of perfection. Relax and explore this widget as it was created for just that reason. Tap, listen, enjoy the sound world of the virtual handpan. You should of heard how good it is.