Named ‘Caisa’, after a Trinidad carnival chant, the Caisa is the HandPan made by, ‘Bill Brown’, of ‘Kaisos Steel Drums’, based in Germany.
One of the first HandPan to appear, following in the wake of the PANArt Hang, the Caisa has become an increasingly popular instrument among HandPan enthusiasts, and musician. With popular tunings being the ‘Cosma’ tuning, and the 432Hz Caisa, ‘OM”.
With a diameter of 58-60cm, the Caisa HandPan is considerably larger than the PANArt Hang, and is notable for the bottom of the HandPan, which differs considerably from the Standard ‘Gu’ style underneath; common to most HandPan. With the Caisa’s bottom featuring a central screw-fitting for the insertion of a small wooden stand, which gives the Caisa a mushroom-like look. And also has three holes for the use of a snare-type stand.
Points of note:
* The Caisa is a non-nitrided HandPan.
* Some Caisa are tuned in a ‘circular’ pattern (notes ascend around the circumference of the pan). Rather than in the ‘zig-zag’ pattern common to most HandPan (worth being aware of if you’re purchasing a Caisa second-hand).
* In addition to the standard Caisa, Bill Brown also produces a ‘Baby Caisa’, a smaller, lighter version of its larger brother.
Last known price of a (standard sized) Caisa HandPan: 1100 Euro (around $1400).
You can read a thorough, and fair review of the Caisa HandPan: HERE (as per 2012).
For more information, and/or to purchase a Caisa, you can visit the Caisa-Music website: HERE (or the Healing Drum website: HERE). Or to keep up-to-date with everything Caisa, you can visit the Caisa house, at Handpan.org: HERE.
