I received my 18” Bronze Gongpan a little over 3 weeks ago. I absolutely could not be more thrilled or pleased with it. It is all that I imagined, and more!
I was first introduced to a hang pan about 6 months ago when a friend bought one. It was a full size steel hand pan. I liked it very much, although being on the shorter stature side, it was a little too big for my friend, or I, to play ‘comfortably’.
As I started my quest to find my own hand pan, I came across Christopher of the Wolves’ Gongpans on Etsy. Because hand pans in general are expensive, I did research. I went to the Dragondrum website and discovered to my delight, that Christopher of the Wolves made an 18” Gongpan, AND he made them out of BRONZE!!! To the best of my knowledge, and my internet research skills, he is the only maker of Bronze hand pans.
As a person, myself, that tends to think outside of the box; I was elated to find that this maker does too! Being a person that appreciates singing bowls and chimes made out of bronze, I was intrigued by his bold endeavor to make hand pans out of bronze. Simply brilliant!!! In my humble opinion.
When I first reached out to Christopher about the Gongpan I now own, this pan was still in its tuning phase. He kept me apprise of its progress and promised to send me the YouTube link once it was complete. As I waited patiently for that to happen, I grew anxious. I knew that his concept was brilliant, and I knew that this was the drum for me. I began to be concerned that if I waited for him to post the clip on YouTube, that I might not be fast enough to order before the other 10 people on Etsy that were also waiting for that same clip before purchasing. I decided to make my purchase before that happened, before the clip was even made...
He made the audio clip, sent my Gongpan to me, and then sent me the link to YouTube to hear my drum. I cried. It was incredible!!!
The next day, when it arrived, I cried more. It is so incredibly soothing and relaxing! As I am not a ‘musician’, I am not sure how to explain the why’s of it, yet there is something about the bronze that causes it to resonate better, and be more soothing, than the steel hand pans my friend has, and that I have encountered in my quest for my own drum. Not only that, the 18” size is perfect for me!
C.G. from Kent, WA