Frequently Asked Questions

Please contact us via our Facebook presence or through the Contact page after reading the FAQ’s.

The turnaround time to receive your custom-made Soma is around 1.5-2.5 months (waiting time plus build time). Often, we also have Soma’s for direct sale here at our workshop.

We are happy to add seriously interested persons for a custom-made Soma to our wait-list. During the wait period you will have time to decide on a sound-model. If needed we are pleased to advise you here at our workshop.
Before the instrument is being built, we will get in touch with you again to bindingly reconfirm your interest and choice of sound-model.
Approximately 4 weeks later the instrument is ready for pick-up or shipping.

Soma’s Sound Sculptures are being built in Switzerland.
The 2022 batch of standard Soma’s and Somita’s will be priced at 1950 CHF (without VAT/ sales tax) or 2100 CHF (with Swiss VAT/sales tax), respectively. A standard Soma has 7 or 8 notes around the central bass note. We will only accept CHF. The price does not include a bag.

Extended Range  Soma’s have additional notes on the bottom shell or the top shell. Each additional note is priced at 150 CHF (incl. Swiss VAT/ sales tax). “Extended Range” Soma’s are marked in the Sound Model section of this page with *Extended Range”.

Low extension’s are Soma’s with two bass notes on the bottom shell to broaden the scale-spectrum. The additional price for the bass notes is 200 CHF per bass note (incl. Swiss VAT/ sales tax). These Soma’s are marked in the Sound Model section of this page with *Low Extension*

If you pick up your Soma Sound Sculpture in person at the Soma workshop in Switzerland, the Swiss VAT will be 7.7%. If the Soma is shipped abroad, you need to purchase a hardcase from us to ship the Soma in. The Soma will be shipped with insured priority mail in a sturdy box. 

If you wish to have an engraving done on your Sound Sculpture by artist AnaPaz, please let us know when ordering the instrument. You can find pictures of some recently commissioned engraving artwork here. 

We offer comfortable, handmade softbags and hardcases at our workshop for our clients. Please see the following video for a short crash-test of the bags and the design options. The price of the bags ranges between 150 CHF and 300 CHF depending on the design and the protective features. We can advise you on the available options. 

We prefer people to pick up their Soma in person at our workshop in Rehetobel/ Switzerland. Shipping can be arranged, however. Soma’s will ship in an hardcase bag which will have to be paid by the customer with the shipping costs.

Please be aware that a shipped Soma will incur customs and/or VAT and/or other charges depending on where it is shipped to (see also above). These costs will be collected by the authorities in your country directly from you.

You are welcome to visit us and play our instruments.

The visiting hours are from 11am – 4pm on weekdays (ONLY upon prior appointment) or spontaneously during our regularly held “Open Days” on weekends (see Contacts & Visits section). Sometimes a private appointment can also be arranged on the weekends.

No. As the demand for our instruments is exceeding our production capacity, Soma’s are exclusively sold by us.
Selected partners, like Handpan coaches, occasionally have Soma’s for direct sale.

Typically, popular standard scales feature 9 notes on a Soma-size handpan and 8 notes on a smaller Somita-size handpan. The Sound Models section gives an overview of scales that have been built in the past.

Extended Range Somas will have one or two more notes than a standard scale Soma. They are marked with *Extended Range*  in the Sound Models section.

The sound sculpture LYNX will currently only come in one scale. Bass notes: D3, F3, G3 ; notes on top: A3 Bb3 C4 D4 E4 F4 G4 A4 Bb4 C5 D5

There are many videos of handpans on Youtube that you can get inspiration from. Also our Sound-Model page features video’s of a variety of popular handpan scales.

You are welcome to visit us. We are happy to advise you personally.
The visiting hours are from 11am – 2pm and 4pm – 6pm on weekdays (only upon prior appointment) or spontaneously during our regularly held “Open Days” on weekends (see Contacts & Visits section).

Yes, selected sound-models are available in 432 Hz tuning.

To ensure stability of tuning, every Soma is tuned many times from the beginning of the building process until finalisation. In between the tuning rounds heat is applied to redistribute and relax stress concentrations. Nevertheless, even the most stable built handpans are drifting in tune over time. However, as all notes simultaneously tend to drift sharp with playing, usually a handpan stays in tune in itself.

Most hobby players in the handpan community do not feel a need to have their instruments retuned in the first 2-3 years. For professional musicians who play their handpans often and who would like to play along other instruments tuned to an exact pitch (e.g. A4=440hz), a tune-up every 6-18 months may be necessary. The first retune for a Soma is free of charge (excluding shipping to and from the Soma workshop). Additional tune ups will cost between 60 – 120 CHF (depending on time needed for retuning).

Retuning is not to be confused with repairing a damaged instrument. In this case other prices and conditions apply. Please contact us in such case.

Although Soma’s are chemically and thermally heat treated to prevent rust and a fine varnish coating is applied at the end of the production process, Soma’s may rust under longer-term exposure to humid and salty conditions (e.g. places close to the sea, places with extended warm rainy periods, humid summer months in general, etc.). To keep your Soma rust-free we advice you to gently wipe your Soma with a (micro-fiber) cloth after EVERY playing session. Human sweat – e.g. from the hands –  is highly rust inducing.  NEVER store your Soma in a bag.  Use a bag only for transportation. Also, don’t put a towel or anything that could attract and store humidity in contact with the instrument. 

Depending on the climate your Soma is exposed to, more or less regular application of biological products such as Phoenix Handpan Oil or just common household coconut oil onto the outside of the Soma is necessary (wipe off any visible residue of the oil after application, though). Applying oil every 2 – 4 weeks is usually enough if you are not playing excessively and store your clean and dry Soma inside the house (but outside the bag). After a longer transportation inside a bag, oil has to be reapplied to the area around the central tone-field as the fabric of the bag will suck up the oil from this area. 

If rust develops, please send us a picture and ask us for advice. Here’s an good article on the topic. 

Please also don’t store your Soma in direct sunlight exposure.

The port usually has two or three tuned frequencies forming a  chord that fits the scale of the Soma.

The port of the LYNX and all other sound sculptures with bottom notes will not be tuned.

The shape of the convex structure on the central tone-field defines the higher modes of vibration of the membrane (higher than the first three tuned one’s; see the scientifics section for an explanation).  After much experimenting, we found a shape that produces the crisp and controllable sound of these higher vibrational modes that we had been looking for. Furthermore, a lower-rise structure makes for easier playing of the central tone field with the (almost) flat hand to excite the deep bass sound of the cavity. Click here for a short instructional video (the bass is only audible with headphones on).

A standard Soma and a LYNX has a diameter of 55cm and a height of 26cm.

A Somita has a diameter of 52cm and a height of approx. 22cm.

Both sizes are built on high-quality, deep-drawn shells from Ayasa. 
The raw shells are gas nitrided according to our own recipe in Switzerland in one of the leading hardening factories in Europe.

“Hang” is a registered trademark of PANart Hangbau AG. It is a legally protected brand name. If you are interested in a Hang Sound Sculpture, please contact PANart AG.

We do not call our instruments “drums” as they are not only played differently but also function very distinctly from a physical/ technical point of view.

There are many useful groups on Facebook which aim at connecting players and share the handpan passion.

In Switzerland I can recommend the courses of Jonas Straumann (exclusive with Soma’s) and Kay Rauber and in Southern Germany the offering of Andreas Bucher (exclusive with Soma’s)
Jonas Straumann’s free video tutorials and David Charrier’s Master The Handpan are recommended as online-courses. 

Yes, you may. However, we strongly urge you to not buy and sell just for profit.
If not damaged or otherwise compromised, Soma’s usually sell for their initial prices on the secondhand market.

Switzerland: Musician and Handpancoach Jonas Straumann is renting a variety of Soma’s through his webpage.
Germany: Percussionteacher Andreas Bucher is renting Soma’s in Southern Germany.

The first two letters in the brackets before the scale name indicate the note of the central tonefield and the lowest note on the ring of notes around the central tone field, respectively. For example an “(E/G) Hari Nata” has a central tonefield in E and starts the scale with a low G. The name in this example (“Hari Nata”) is the official name of the particular interval between the notes of the scale. The official names can be found here.  

SOMA (or Som) is a Sanskrit term used in the ancient Rig Veda. One passage describes it as follows:

“Som (good fruit containing food not any intoxicating drink)
apama (we drink you) amŕtā abhūmâ (you are elixir of life)
jyótir âganma (achieve physical strength or light of god)
ávidāma devân (achieve control over senses);
kíṃ nūnám asmân kṛṇavad árātiḥ (in this situation, what our internal enemy can do to me)
kím u dhūrtír amṛta mártyasya (god, what even violent people can do to me)”