PANArt Hang Manufacturing Ltd. is a Swiss company based in Bern. The company is engaged in the construction of sound sculptures made of “Pang®”, a composite material developed and patented by PANArt. Among other things, the company developed the now world-famous Hang® sculpture. Felix Rohner, Sabina Schärer, Basil Rohner and David Rohner are presently working in the company.

Following the Hang® sculpture, the company developed a large number of new sound sculpture families: the Hang Gubal, Hang Gudu, Hang Urgu, Hang Gede, Hang Bal, Hang Godo; the Hang Balu Sui, Hang Balu Sai, Hang Balu Sei, Hang Balu Urgu; and the string instruments Pang Sui, Pang Sai and Pang Sei.

1993

On May 12th, the PANArt Steelpan-Manufaktur AG (original name) was first entered in the trade register. The founding members are part of the “Berner Oelgesellschaft”, the first steel band in Switzerland with self-made steel pans: Felix Rohner, Michael Frey, Bernhard Wissler, Werner Egger and the trustee Beat Eichenberger.

The founders envisioned a community business that would strengthen the hinterland of the young Swiss steel band scene. Over the next few years, the shareholders grow to a colorful group of 24 individuals, all of whom are interested in the production and development of appropriate steel pans and a good tuning service for steel bands.

In June, an inauguration party is organized at the PANArt domicile. Werner Egger receives the “pan builder” diploma from Felix Rohner after 2 years of apprenticeship in manufacturing steel drums, Leslie Pitchery from the Office for Standardization in Trinidad talks about the standardization of the steel pan, and Gerold Lothmar, psychologist and ethnologist from Zurich, talks about the misunderstood reception of the steel pan in Switzerland.

PANArt presents various instruments: Round-the-Neck Steel Pans, the Conventional Steel Band, the People's Pan with a new integral layout, and the Black Pan.

In July, Gempp+Unold AG, a steel drum manufacturer from Nunningen (Switzerland) delivers 250 steel drums in four different diameters (560 to 640mm), which allow PANArt to produce instruments that can be stacked together (so-called matrioshka pans), an improvement to the logistic problems of steel bands.

From September to October, Michael Frey and Werner Egger travel to Trinidad to establish business relations with steel pan manufacturers.

On November 25th, the brand name “PANArt” is officially protected and deposited.

1994

On April 25th, PANArt tuner Felix Rohner and Werner Egger, a student in pan building, travel to Finland where they meet the two Finnish steel pan tuners Ari Viitanen and Esa Tervala. The trip also takes them to Braunschweig (Germany) to the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) to meet Dr. Wogram and Dr. Bork. Here, they gain new information and insight about the vibration modes of clamped shells.

In May, Esa Tervala joins the PANArt firm. In the same month, the company Hösch Stahl AG delivers steel metal sheets in different qualities and thicknesses as used by the modern automobile industry. The special sheets are folded into cylindrical vessels with two bottoms. The resulting steel pans are then enriched with nitrogen at DUAP AG, a hardening factory in Herzogenbuchsee (Switzerland). The aim of the whole experiment is to improve tuning and sound dynamics. Already in the same month, an exhibition of the entire collection of PANArt instruments (Round-the-Neck Pans, Conventional Steel Band and Black Pans) is organized at the “Steel Band Festival Zug” (Switzerland).

In mid-June, the founding members Michael Frey and Bernhard Wissler decide to leave PANArt.

In August, Eric Louis “Shorty”, pan player (panist) from Trinidad, is a guest at PANArt in order to learn steel pan construction. He brings a PANArt tenor pan (Black Pan) back to Port-of-Spain and publishes an article in the Sunday Mirror: “New heights of sound with the Black Pan”.

From July to November 1994, PANArt supports projects in connection with the art form steel band: “International Panyard” with the “Steelpan Lovers” from Karjaa, Finland (directed by Ari Viitanen) and steel pan players from all over Europe and Trinidad (video “Come Down”, Kolk production) and visit and tour with the youth steel band “Steel Going Strong” from Denmark. Furthermore, a concert at the Hotel National is organized with the best stage orchestra from Trinidad, the “Renegades” with arranger Jit Samaroo, and a visit to PANArt’s workshop.

1995

At the beginning of 1995, Werner Egger travels to Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, for further training with master tuner Roland Harrigin. During this time, Alain Hofer, founder of the scout steel band “Kebabaluba”, starts working at PANArt.

In March, PANArt initiates a project for producing a raw tool for steel pan construction. Partners are Toni Hirsig from the former Hirsig Blechtechnik AG in Belp (Switzerland), and Mr. Baumgartner, plant manager of Baumgartner Werkzeugbau AG, Münchenbuchsee (Switzerland).

A PANArt event takes place in May. Under the title “Pan-Mysterium”, the employees of PANArt build pentatonic steel pans in a single day in the “Streetball-Hall” in Zurich with 25 interested people from all over Switzerland. They will be tuned and handed over to the players on the same day.

In July, Werner Egger, Esa Tervala and Alain Hofer leave PANArt and found the Cosmopan GmbH in Worb (Switzerland).

One month later, Sabina Schärer joins PANArt. From August to November, Martin Hägler, musician and drum instructor, builds a series of pentatonic steel pans in cooperation with the PANArt tuners. A joint creation is also the “Tschempan”, a combination of the djembe and the steel pan, the first hand-played sound sculpture made of “Pang®”.

In September, the firm Hirsig AG delivers the first raw tools for steel pan construction to be tested. Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer begin extensive studies with the raw tools.

At the end of September, Felix Rohner is invited by Prof. Uwe Hansen and Prof. Thomas Rossing to participate as invited speaker at the “International Congress of Advanced Materials” in Cancun, Mexico. He is accompanied by Peter Schober, a specialist in forming metal and supervisor of the raw-forming project at Hirsig AG. In Cancun they meet a steel pan pioneer, Elliot (Ellie) Mannette, who also demonstrates his tuning skills. Felix Rohner presents the “Black Baby”, one of the new raw forms that has a closed shape, and is hardened with the Tenifer® process.

Thomas Rossing, physicist at the University of Illinois (U.S.A.), mentions his standard work “The Physics of Musical Instruments”, which turns out to be decisive for Felix Rohner. A spontaneous invitation by Elliot Mannette leads the two Swiss citizens on their return trip from Cancun to his workshop in Morgantown, Virginia (U.S.A.) and to Uwe Hansen at the Physics Department of the University of Illinois (U.S.A.). Felix Rohner presents the results of the empirical research by PANArt. Uwe Hansen provides acoustic measurements of the Black Pans, which show a surprisingly rich harmonic frequency spectrum.

1996

In April, Dr. van Ligten, specialist for noise reduction in the automotive industry at Rieter Automotive Management, Winterthur (Switzerland), visits PANArt to learn more about the methods of resonating and silencing sheet metal.

Rieter places an order with PANArt to tune a set of instruments made from car body parts. The instruments, consisting of fenders from an Austin, the roof of a Buick and various gasoline tanks, are played by PANArt at an international conference on acoustical problems in automobile construction in June 1997 in Zurich. The featured song deals with the disappearance of the characteristic sound color of cars.

One month later, the first Pang instruments Ping, Peng and Pong were created. The new raw form – specifically hardened and of a uniform thickness – is immediately analyzed in detail. It becomes apparent that with this composite material, the sound has changed for the better.

The mantle of the new steel pan made of chrome steel is modified in various ways to achieve a better control of the natural oscillations: An attempt is made to arch the mantle (skirt) and various grooves are inserted.

In addition, a spherical segment is attached to the mantle. These novel vessels, which bring the cavity into play, are performed in a seated position and are called Pang instruments.

Sabina Schärer and Prof. Hansen develop a technical method to stimulate the oscillation modes and make them visible. Schärer and Rohner use this electromagnetic method to investigate the modes of oscillation of the clamped shells (sound fields). Different approaches to a systematic tuning process were developed during this period.

In August, Cy Grant, the author of the book “Ring of Steel – Pan Sound and Symbol” visits PANArt. His visit is reflected in the appendix under the title “The Pangs of Bern, Switzerland – Echoes from the Gotthard: A Case Study”.

1997

In August, Rohner and Schärer travel to Berlin to the Clay High School with a side trip to the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt in Braunschweig to meet Dr. Wogram and Dr. Bork, experts in the tuning problems of xylophones. Questions concerning radiation of the steel pan are discussed with Dr. Wogram and the Helmholtz resonator with Dr. Bork.

In November of the same year, a naming ceremony for the Pang instruments (played in a sitting position) is held in the Pang House, to which all steel bands that are supported by PANArt tuning service are invited. Prof. Uwe Hansen, physicist and organ player, gives a naming ceremony speech and points out the new sound qualities.

In December, PANArt continues its research on sheet metal: The tuners want to find out about the sound structure of the new instruments and have the automotive industry Rieter in Winterthur produce raw shells with comparable sound spectra of pan sounds and steel pan sounds of Trinidadian character.

1998

In the previous years, more and more steel bands were founded that wanted their instruments to be tuned by the PANArt tuners. This leads to a new positioning of PANArt. It addresses its former steel band clientele and offers initiations into the art of tuning. More than forty tuners are trained. The aim of these courses is to make the steel bands independent from the tuner and to take the load off PANArt. PANArt says goodbye to the steel pan scene in Switzerland in order to devote itself more intensively to the research of new sounding bodies.

The two tuners receive results of the modal-analytical investigations of the chrome steel shell and the sound fields from Dr. Stefan Messmer, ETH Zurich.

In May, Prof. Thomas Rossing visits PANArt for the first time together with Judith Angster, specialist for organ building.

In June, PANArt offers instruments made of the new material “Pang®” with different sound field shapes. These are presented at the “Steel Band Festival” in Paris from June 5-7, 1998. There the PANArt tuners meet traditional steel pan builders, among others Dudley Dickson (GB), Tommy Crichlow (Canada) and the young French steel pan tuners Gil Daney, Coco and Philippe Maignant. They present the new raw form for the first time. Tommy Crichlow follows the invitation to the PANArt workshop and tests the PANArt raw shell, the quality of which he is convinced.

In October, the Lehrwerkstätten Bern (GIBB) delivers the first cylindrical sheet metal vessels for the “tubal”, thus creating a prototype with a central navel in the sound field. The chromatic, three-octave musical instrument consists of individual vessels, the cavity of which must be tuned (Helmholtz resonator).

Rohner and Schärer travel to the “Euroblech Fair” in Hanover to find out about new forming technologies.

On December 14th, PANArt registers the “Process for the manufacture of metal sheet instruments”, developed by PANArt, at the patent office.

1999

The company Messerli AG, which is PANArt’s neighbor at Engehaldenstrasse, provides the oval sounding bodies for a three-octave tubal on January 15th.

In February, the tuners of PANArt undertake a study trip to Dr. A. Varsànyi at the “Musical Instrument Museum” in Munich. As an ethnologist specialized in Indonesia, he introduces the history and architecture of the gamelan. A video shows the Gong Ageng tuner at work. The Pang builders recognize their own work in it. The hump of the gong arouses their interest.

In May, the tinsmith company Messerli AG supplies sheet metal cylinders for more Tubals. The round sound fields are given a dome, and the current tubal resonator turns into a Helmholtz resonator.

The PANArt tuners spend the summer of 1999 mainly with research and development of further prototypes. The tuners produce a written work, a kind of interim result, of the research on the sound on sheet metal.

In September, a trip to the company Rieter in Winterthur is organized to discuss with Dr. Bloemhof and Dr. van Ligten the riddle of the twisted can bottom (spreading of the sound spectrum when the cylindrical body is twisted). The term “anticlasticism” turns up. The study of hyperboloid forms leads to a better understanding of traditional instruments: the new instruments Orage (cymbals), Pung (gong), Pangglocken (pan bells) are created, all of them with new timbres and sound dynamics. Furthermore, tablas, drums, singing saws, tuning forks and bells are studied at PANArt for their acoustic and technical aspects.

In order to trace the connections between sound field shape, material and clamping, the pang builders travel to Marktredwitz and Plauen in Germany in October, where they meet Dr. Wandke, engineer and spring specialist and Dr. Müller, physicist. One of them confirms the spring structure of the clamped shell, the other warns not to get too hung up on the bending wave theory.

In autumn, the tuners at PANArt meet percussionist Reto Weber, who brings his steelpan to PANArt to be repaired. At this occasion, he demonstrates his ghatam, a percussion instrument from southern India, made of clay in the form of a pot. He asks the PANArt tuners if such an instrument could also be made of metal, unbreakable and equipped with a few notes. In the course of the conversation, Sabina Schärer and Felix Rohner assemble two spherical segments made of Pang, initially foreseen for making Ping instruments. One of the segments is already tuned, the other one is still in its raw state. This nearly spherical body is the seed which the tuners at PANArt finally consolidated over years of research to the Hang sculpture and to the present Hang Balu, all played by hand like the Tschempan, the Pung and the Pang cymbals from earlier times.

2000

In the winter months Rohner and Schärer experiment with various raw forms and condense the primal Hang to create Hang sculptures with their aesthetic form.

PANArt is invited to present their Pang instruments, including their latest creation, the Hang sculpture, and to demonstrate their tuning art at the special show “Exempla” at the International Crafts Fair in Munich (theme: rhythm) from March 16-22. The company is awarded the Bavarian State Prize 2000 for outstanding technical achievement in craftsmanship.

This year the “1st European Steel Band Festival” will also take place in Paris from May 20-21. PANArt organises and finances an exhibition on the state of research on sounding sheet metal and a conference with about 50 tuners and celebrities of the steel pan scene. Dr. Clement Imbert, engineer and lecturer at the UWI (University of the West Indies), will talk about steel pan projects in Trinidad, and the PANArt tuners about the systematic tuning process and its raw form. Shortly afterwards, Dr. Clement Imbert travels with two well-known tuners, Jimmy Philips and Patrick Worrell, on invitation to Bern to visit PANArt. Dr. Imbert informs himself in detail about the technology of the production of the raw form and visits the companies Hirsig and DUAP. The two tuners from Trinidad work on the raw shells and discuss it with Rohner and Schärer. Jimmy Phillips and Sabina Schärer exchange tuning hammers.

In August 2000, the first Internet presence is launched at www.panart.ch, followed by the opening of a “Yahoo Hang International Group” on Yahoo Groups. In October, Rohner and Schärer are invited as speakers to the “1st Conference on the Acoustics and Technology of the Steel Pan” in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad (ICSTS 2000, as part of the “1st World Steel Band Festival”), where they present six papers. The metal specialist Peter Schober from the Hirsig AG will also be present. PANArt's travel group will take along its entire range of products on a freighter from Le Havre to the Caribbean. The metal sound sculptors from Switzerland present the Pang instrument to an interested scientific audience and tuners from all over the world. Rohner, accompanied by Schärer (Hang sculpture), raps about the story of the sounding sheet metal in Switzerland. They also hold a tuning workshop for mostly local tuners.

The Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) publishes an article.about the empirical research on sheet metal: “Working on Harmony”. (30.08.2000)

2001

The Berner Zeitung (BZ) titles: “The New Sound for Cultures and Cows”. (12.03.2001)

The Bernese newspaper Der Bund is interested in the PANArt instruments and a prominent article appears with the title: “High-tech Sheet Metal instead of Trinidad Clichés”. (16.04.2001)

In January and February, further Hang prototypes are created and several technical and acoustic problems of the prototypes are studied in order to find a solution. In February, the tuners visit a company specialized in the field of (acoustic) tuning of cars. As Helmholtz specialists, they contribute to the optimal aesthetic and acoustic design of the Gu (resonance hole in the sound sculpture).

In March, the Hang sculpture will be presented and sold to a broad public for the first time at the Frankfurt Music Fair (March 7-11, 2001) (price: 300 Euros).

The Hang sculpture is welcomed as a new creation in the field of percussion instruments.

On May 1st, PANArt moves into the Hanghaus on the banks of the river Aare. Here the production process of the Hang sculpture is refined and a distribution network is set up between April and October.

In December, these efforts culminate in a public Hang sculpture exhibition in the Hanghaus. At the vernissage, Omri Hason and Samir Essabhi play on Hang instruments.

2002

The homepage www.panart.ch is replaced by the homepage www.hang.ch. It allows you to listen to 45 different instrument tunings. One can hear the tuned scale and a one-and-a-half minute piece of music played by the “Duo ZusammenHang” Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer. This music is characterized by playing the bass on the Gu side and improvising on the Ding side of the Hang sculpture. A CD will be produced and sent to all distributors for free use.

Most of the Hang sculptures find their way into the wide world by mail, this year the 1000th piece.

In December, the physicist A. Lauterwasser, author of the book “Wasserklangbilder”, visists PANArt. He presents PANArt with two water sound pictures of the Ding sound.

2003

April 25th: A change of name is decided at the General Assembly: PANArt Steelpan Manufaktur is now called PANArt Hangbau AG.

PANArt expands its distribution network. Solutions for the transport problems of the delicate instruments are sought and culminate in cooperation with the logistics company Kühne & Nagel and Glanzmann AG, Scheuren (Switzerland).

The “Hanghausmusik” concert series begins at this time. PANArt invites music groups to play the Hang sculpture.

In February, PANArt receives the patent (No. 693 319) for the “Process for the production of sheet metal sound instruments”.

On August 2nd, the anniversary celebration “10 years PANArt” takes place. The orchestra “One World Music” from Cairo plays with Modou Gaye from Senegal. An exhibition shows the history of the development from Pan to Hang. PANArt issues an anniversary publication with the title “10 years PANArt: Accountability, Results, Resonance”.

2004

In January, PANArt informs interested parties that it is calling for a period of rest, a time of research and concentration. The Bernese cultural magazine “Ensuite” reports on the work of PANArt under the title “Die Welt ist Blech / Über einen neu gefundenen Klang” (The world is sheet metal / About a newly discovered sound).

In early summer, Felix and David Rohner and Sabina Schärer take part in the first “Hang out” in Glastonburry, England.

In September, the newly-designed stone-slab square Bundesplatz in front of the parliament building in Bern is inaugurated with a concert along the theme “Hang zum Stein” (Tendancy to Stone) (Orchestra Omri Hason).

The PANArt tuners visit Heinz Isler, civil engineer and visual artist, and gain insight into the secrets of the physics of shell construction. A visit to Dr. Farshad at the ETH Zurich sheds light on the physical laws surrounding anticlastic geometry (Medhi Farshad: “Design and Analysis of Shell Structures” 1992).

2005

The Hanghaus relocates to the building at Engehaldenstrasse 131. In May, the “First International Hang Players’ Meeting” is held: About 200 Hang owners gather at the PANArt area and exchange their experiences. The invitation also goes to the distributors. A film crew from Paris, directed by Véronique Pagnon, shoots an hour-long film about the Hang sculpture. Its title: “Le Hang –une révolution discrète”.

The further development of the Hang sculpture to deeper sounds leads to the “Low Hang”. The so-called “DUM”, a wooden tube, lowers the bass. The percussionist Omri Hason creates a Gudu version together with the tuners. An additional opening on the Gu side produces Udu-like effects. (Udu: The udu is a plosive aerophone and an idiophone of the Igbo of Nigeria)

2006

The increasing demand for the Hang sculpture is putting the Hang builders in a difficult situation. Based on the insight that their work does not consist of satisfying the demand but in the constant development (call of iron), they terminate their cooperation with the distributors. In the future, the instruments can be purchased only directly from PANArt.

In summer, the “Second Hang Players’ Meeting” is held with Hang players from all over the world. In the presence of Bern's mayor Alexander Tschäppät, the premiere of the French film “Modou – the Hang player” by FTS Production (Mino Dutertre) and the film “Le Hang – une révolution discrète” are celebrated.

2007

In the “Letter from the Hangbauhaus” from March, PANArt informs about its sales philosophy and the changes to the Hang sculpture, especially the position of the sound fields.

In September, the ISMA (International Symposium on Musical Acoustics) takes place in Barcelona. Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer talk about the “History, Development and Tuning of the Hang”.

2008

PANArt publishes the brochure “HANG” in four languages, an outline of the development history of the Hang sculpture. It also presents the latest creation, the Integral Hang, and the new sales philosophy with the stipulation against speculation.

The term “Hang” is protected as a trademark to prevent it from becoming a generic name. First imitations and plagiarisms appear in Germany (Caisa), in Spain (Bells), in the U.S.A. (Halo) as well as in other countries.

In cooperation with the Bernese University of Applied Sciences in Biel, a one-year research project under the direction of Prof. Jean-Martin Rufer is carried out, leading to new findings about the Pang composite and to a patent application.

2009

At the beginning of the year, a joint percussive instrument called the “Klangfenster” was produced for kindergartens in cooperation with the company Rieter und Vögeli. For this prize-winning instrument, awarded by Worlddidac, PANArt will produce pang cymbals for three years.

In the public statement “Das Integrale Hang”, PANArt publishes its own view of its sculpture and thoughts on how to handle the great demand.

PANArt applies for the patent “Method for Producing a Metal Sound Musical Instrument” in the E.U. and the U.S.A., which will be validated in 2010 in the E.U. and in 2013 in the U.S.A.

In a “Letter from the Hangbauhaus” in November, PANArt announces the “Free Integral Hang”, whose tuning is based on human hearing. For the first time the sculpture is tuned without a tuning device using only human hearing. The liberation from the tuning device is a result of the insight into the complexity of the acoustic system Hang and its sculptural character.

2010

This year is marked by the move of PANArt to a larger workshop, called "Gu". In April the “Hangwegleitung” is published. The instructions for playing the Hang should open the Hang sculpture as a mirror, seismograph, as an amplifier for the players. Played in the right position – the Helmholtz resonance tuned to the Ding with the right angle of the legs – the player himself becomes a sculpture.

2011

On May 1st, under the title “Ruf des Blechs” (Call of iron), the company provides information about waiting lists, therapy options, media and an accountable approach.

People interested in the “Free Integral Hang” are invited to visit the company and choose their instrument from a wide range of offers directly at PANArt in Bern.

2012

"PANArt's Free Integral Hang: Daydreams Before Profits, a Case Study on Managing Creativity" is the title of a paper by R. Cocke, a business journalist studying at Bournemouth University.

PANArt is suing Bellart from Spain, a company that is making identical copies of the Integral Hang. PANArt is not successful in its action for copyright infringement and unfair competition.

2013

Basil and David Rohner, the sons of Felix Rohner, start working at PANArt.

In January, PANArt comments on the increasing speculation with their instruments in the article “Hang auf eBAY”.

On June 1st, the 20th anniversary of PANArt Hangbau AG is celebrated. The book “Hang – Sound sculpture” is published and the new sound sculpture Gubal is presented. The website is redesigned and can be found again under www.panart.ch.

2014

The further development of the Hang sculpture is clearly shown in the article “From Hang to Gubal”. The event “Gubal Days” take place in May. Hang and Gubal players meet to interact and play together. At the same event, a new tuning technology is demonstrated.

In autumn, an “Offer for licensing” of the new method for strengthening the iron sheet and transforming it into a composite material with positive characteristics for sound and tuning stability appears on the homepage. In recommending the publication “Secrets of the Steelpan” by Anthony Achong, a physicist from Trinidad, PANArt wants to point out the art of tuning clamped bowls.

2015

The collaboration with the young tuners Basil and David Rohner bears fruit, and new sound bodies are created: the Hang Gudu, as well as the string instruments Pang Sei, Pang Sai and Pang Sui. Together with the Hang Gudu, the Gubal and the stringed instruments, an interaction becomes possible: the “Pang Ensemble” is born and shows its music – a relaxed encounter of strings and energy from the Pang – on the PANArt YouTube channel.

PANArt invites interested people to the “Pang Days” where the “Pang Ensemble” is introduced and played.

2016

In January, the new sculpture Hang Urgu is created.

From time to time, Massimo d'Anolfi and Martina Parenti of Montmorency Film turn up in the PANArt workshops and collect footage for their film “Spira Mirabilis”, which is shown at the “Biennale di Venezia” in 2016.

The small Hang Gede is arousing great interest. At the “Hang Bal Days”, the Hang Bal is presented, which is played while walking (dancing).

2017

On April 20th, the film “Spira Mirabilis” premieres in Bern. The Bernese daily newspaper Der Bund refers to it as “Die Heiler vom Schattenhang” (The healers of the shady slope).

The increasing number of plagiarists is countered by PANArt with lawsuits against two companies, one in Italy and one in Switzerland. For the case in Switzerland, PANArt is suing “Echosoundsculpture GmbH” for copyright infringement and is going for a settlement which stipulates that the defendant must alter the design of his instrument. For the case in Italy, the lawsuit by PANArt against the company “Marrocchelli Hand Steel Pan” from Brescia prohibits the company from copying the trademarked design of the Gubal.

2018

In June, PANArt celebrates its 25th anniversary. For the numerous illustrious guests – friends who have accompanied or worked together with PANArt during the many years – the PANArt tuner team presents the “Balu Ensemble”: the Hang Balu Sei, the Hang Balu Sai, the Hang Balu Sui, and the Hang Godo. Lukas Rohner from Basel, artist and inventor of musical instruments, subtly joins the spontaneous playing with one of his overtone flutes.

Hans Businger, a freelance employee at PANArt since its beginnings, delights the audience in reciting texts by Friedrich Hölderlin and T.S. Elliot: a powerful ode to the hammer.

2019

Basil Rohner and David Rohner are researching new methods of processing the Pang and reforming the shape of the Hang Balu. The technique of intensively hammering the area around the tone fields of the sheet metal opens up new tonal colors. Progress is made in tuning the “Ring Ding”.

2020

The video editors of the COOP newspaper visit PANArt and create a video and a report in its weekly publication.

The regional courts of Düsseldorf, Berlin and Hamburg issue temporary injunctions against producers of hand pans. In Hamburg, after oral proceedings, the courts declared that the Hang Sculpture is protected by copyright.

In his dissertation ("The Mirror Effect"), music therapist Christopher Baron (http://www.pangensemble.com/) discusses the effects of music produced with the PANArt Hang® family instruments on musicians.

2021

This year is marked by the fact that the Hang sculpture created in 2000 is being copied all over the world.

PANArt Hangbau AG is defending itself with a copyright lawsuit against Ayasa, a company from Holland that not only produces plagiarisms but also sells the raw material - shells that are almost identical to those of PANArt - worldwide.

To show that shapes other than the Hang Sculpture can produce equally delightful sounds, the PANArt sound specialists are creating several new sound sculptures.

Due to the ongoing corona pandemic, the number of interested people invited to Bern is reduced. During this time, the focus of the tuner collective is on further developing and refining the work on the plexus.

The plexus is a term from acoustic research on the steelpan (Anthony Achong, Trinidad) and means the complex network of the playing surface of the steelpan and the Hang.

David Rohner delves deeper into the plexus of the Hang Balu and, together with the EMPA (Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research), researches the vibration modes. He wants to know how the GU can be specifically tuned and is confirmed in his empirical research by the results.

2022

Our work on the Hang Balu, which is enjoying increasing interest, is progressing.

In the weekend edition of the daily newspaper "Le Temps", a detailed report on the Hang will appear on March 26th 2022 under the title "Le hang ou l'esprit du marteau". Journalist Léo Tichelli visited PANArt in advance for the research.

More and more people interested in the Hang are drawn to the Hang Balu with its pulsating power. The Hang sculpture fades into the background. If someone is looking for individual immersion, there are still mature ones in the back rooms.

The concept of the Hang Balu undergoes changes: It succeeds in giving the Balu SUI a deeper timbre and new forms of GU are being worked on.

In the tuning rooms of the PANArt team, on closer inspection, sound bodies can be seen that point to the future.

The concept of manual intelligence inspires the team.