Is the HandPan an Instrument of Satan? - KaribPAN Seems to Think So

While it’s very tempting to keep our heads well below the parapet on the following topic, for fear of drawing accusations of Demonic involvement ourselves (just don’t play our sampler album backwards). Certain articles posted on the KaribPAN website in recent times, have proven intriguing.  And should it be a rabbit hole that you're willing to dive down for yourself, if nothing else, you should emerge thoroughly entertained (more so than reading this website - if you believe the same "Blessings of love and light" type critics who probably set KaribPAN off in the first place - here's a present for those guys :p).

To our knowledge it began with a blog post titled, “The HandPan Mafia”, that was essentially an all-out attack against the Handpan instrument, and the culture, and community that surrounds it (Facebook reacts here).  Just previous to its posting we witnessed several (arguably overly-enthusiastic) public criticisms of the sounds of the KaribPAN over at Facebook. And the whole thing had the air of a feeling-underappreciated new-maker to the scene, retaliating.

And you might have expected that, to be the end of that.  But it wasn’t.


Over the last few weeks (and the author shows no sign of stopping anytime soon), the blog posts have taken many a strange turn.  From a fairly broad and generic attack against the entire Handpan scene, through to accusations of theft against the peoples of Trinidad and Tobago, the home of the Steel Pan.  Before settling for now (at time of posting) firmly in the area of the occult.  With prominent members of the Handpan community being called out, one-by-one, on their Demonic affiliations.

While some of the posts have arguably gone too far in terms of the personal attacks involved, even going as far as to make target of a much-loved, and recently deceased member of the industry - our main issue with the posts, is our own befuddlement with them...

Are they the retaliation of an aspiring-maker whose initial-offerings fell victim to the oft-sharp-tongues of Facebook’s Handpan-critics?  The first signs of genuine backlash against the newer Handpan-scene, from the older Steel Pan scene of the Caribbean that birthed it?  An elaborate joke? The bona-fide ravings of an aluminum-hat wearing madman?  Or is the Handpan-world indeed the hive of ungodly activity that KaribPAN would like you to believe that it is? Deserving of the Holy-war that KaribPAN is currently waging against it (their most recent post almost had us convinced - almost)...

>> YOU DECIDE <<

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