A handpan studio that lives in your browser

Tap to play

The on-screen handpan below uses real recorded samples. Default tuning is D Kurd 9: every note works with every other, so any tap sounds musical.

What the handpan is in Backpan

The handpan sits at the center of the studio. It's not a passive sound source: it's the player you compose around. Every other module (bass, drone, percussion, chord progression) is wired to follow what your handpan is doing.

Pick any of the 20 preset scales: Kurd, Celtic, Hijaz, Akebono, Pygmy, La Sirena, and the others. Or build a custom scale: choose a tonic, pick the intervals, set the note count between 8 and 21. The on-screen layout regenerates instantly. The samples come from the Freepats CC0 set: real recorded handpans, not synthesis.

Once you've got a scale you like, the studio orchestrates around you: bass voicing follows the chord progression, drone holds a sustained bourdon, percussion locks to the same bar. The composition you write on handpan can also replay on kalimba, vibraphone, marimba: same notes, swapped sample bank.

20 preset scales, and unlimited custom

Browse the full catalog. Each scale links to its own page with the notes, intervals, mode and playable chords.

• Kurd — Aeolian, Natural Minor, Annaziska
• Major — Ionian
• Dorian — Magic Voyage
• Phrygian — minor
• Mixolydian — major
• Harmonic Minor — minor
• Celtic Minor — Amara
• Integral — minor
• Hijaz — Phrygian Dominant
• La Sirena — minor
• Equinox — minor
• Sabye — Ashakiran
• Romanian Hijaz — Kaffa
• Pygmy — Dorian Pentatonic
• Akebono — minor
• Aegean — major
• In Sen — minor
• Pentatonic Minor — minor
• Pentatonic Major — major
• Blues — minor

What plays under your handpan

The studio runs 4 synced tracks. Edit any of them while the others play; a single master clock keeps everyone aligned.

• Chord progression: pick from 72 progressions with note-based color highlighting, or build your own
• Bass: 6 voicings (classic, sub, acid, reese, funk, pluck) follow the chord progression
• Drone: sustained bourdon or rhythmic pad, locked to the same chord
• Percussion: 16 kits + 26 extra samples (rock, bossa, flamenco, African, electronic, meditative)

Same composition, any instrument

Cross-instrument cross-play: Backpan stores the notes you played, not the handpan timbre. Tap an instrument slot and the same composition replays on kalimba, vibraphone, marimba, mbira: 98 sampled instruments to pick from. Useful for testing how your piece sounds before committing to a final mix, or for sharing a handpan composition with a friend who plays a different instrument.

Real samples, not synthesis

Handpan voices use real recorded samples from the Freepats CC0 set: actual handpans played by real players, not synthetic approximations. The other instruments come from VCSL (Versilian Community Sample Library, also CC0). Both libraries ship under permissive licenses, so the audio is yours to use in whatever you create.

Why people land here

If you searched for any of these, you're in the right place:

• best handpan app for the web
• free handpan composition tool
• handpan sequencer online
• online handpan with chords
• handpan recording web app
• free mobile handpan studio

Play it for real

The studio is in free private beta. Sign up and your access arrives with the next wave.