The Caisa Drum / HandPan - The German-Made 'Hang Drum' Alternative

(!) This post may now be out of date - but has been left published for archive purposes.  It may still prove to be of interest, but some (or all) details may now be out of date (!).

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 is an instrument that brings very much its own voice and identity to the world of HandPan, 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).

For more information, check the makers page: HERE
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