Apex – The dome of the center note when it is dented outward.

Bending – Pressing along the axis of a tuned harmonic on a note, commonly the center note, to modulate (temporarily detune) the frequency to add a musical effect. If done too hard, it may detune the note permanently.

Crosstalk – Undesired activation of neighboring notes when one note is struck.

DC04 – Common grade of German steel used to manufacture handpans.

Dimple – The deformed (purposely dented) area of the steel in the center of a note. Can be dented inward or outward. See ‘Dome’.

Ding – The center note of a Hang. Also used to reference the center note of any handpan.

Dome – Another Term for ‘dimple’. The deformed (purposely dented) area of the steel in the center of a note. Can be dented inward or outward (Inpex or Apex).

Fundamental – The true pitch (lowest pitch) of a given note.

Gu – The circular opening in the bottom of most handpan instruments. Originally used to refer to the opening in the bottom of the Hang. See ‘Port’.

Handpan – Generic term for a hand-played pitched percussion instrument crafted from steel or similar metal, with notes (tone fields) on the top surface which create sound via in

Hang – The Trademarked name of the original sound sculpture created by PANArt, meaning “hand” in Bernese German.

Hang Drum – A common, but improper term for the Hang. Also known to be used as a general term for handpans.

Harmonics – Partials above the fundamental frequency of a given note. The first couple harmonics are forced in a note by a steel tuner to make a handpan note sound pleasant to the ears.

Helmholtz Resonance – The deep bass tone created by playing the port of a handpan instrument. This frequency is created by the existence of the cavity of the handpan. Read more here.

Innie – See inpex.

Inpex – The dome of the center note when it is dented inward.

Isolation – How independent a note is from neighboring notes when struck. More isolation is generally preferred. Lack of isolation creates ‘crosstalk’.

Nitriding – Case hardening process used to harden steel by diffusing molecular nitrogen into the steel matrix, creating iron nitrides. Also creates a thin layer on the surface helping to fight rust formation. May be performed via “gas nitriding”, “plasma nitriding”, or “salt bath nitriding”.