HandPan on the Subway with Jerry Walsh - Orange is the New Black

The ways in which people discover the sounds of the Handpan (or as they are often known at that point, "weird metal turtle-shell wok drum things") are many and varied.  And while others first heard the instrument in a movie, a video gone viral, on the streets, at a Bjork gig, and as a catchy tune in their favourite video game (to name a few examples) - others have more recently been introduced to the Handpan’s sound via hit Netflix television show, Orange is the New Black.

Poussey loves a bit of Handpan

‘The series revolves around Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), a woman in her 30s living in New York City who is sentenced to 15 months in Litchfield Penitentiary, a minimum-security women's federal prison (operated by the "Federal Department of Corrections", a fictional version of the Federal Bureau of Prisons) in upstate New York. Piper had been convicted of transporting a suitcase full of drug money for her girlfriend Alex Vause (Laura Prepon), an international drug smuggler. The offense had occurred 10 years prior to the start of the series and in that time Piper had moved on to a quiet, law-abiding life among New York's upper middle class. Her sudden and unexpected indictment severely disrupts her relationships with her fiancé, family and friends.’

And in season four, episode 13, "Toast Can’t Never Be Bread Again" (the season finale), Handpan musician, Jerry Walsh, plays what looks to be a second generation Hang for a sleepy yet appreciative New York City subway audience, and provides soundtrack to the beginning of a young Asian boy’s descent into crime (it’s a slippery-slope kid).  

Reportedly alerted to the opportunity by Handpan ambassador, Daniel Waples, Jerry Walsh wows for roughly one minute and seventeen seconds, Poussey, her fellow passengers, and roughly 7 million Netflix viewers across the episodes first two days of release (if figures roughly match those seen for the season’s premier).  Take a listen below…



-->