Daniel Rheinhold used to teach English and German at a state school. Today he runs wohl.klang, a handpan studio with showroom in Hannover's Südstadt, and teaches as a certified Malte Marten Method teacher. The path between the two was shorter than you might think, and it started with a YataoPan.
Handpan music in the morning
Daniel began doing yoga in the morning to look after his mental health, with handpan music playing in the background. The relaxing sound and the unusual shape of the instrument caught him straight away. His thought at the time: I need this in my life, and I want to learn to play it.
He started with a YataoPan D Kurd bundle that included the Beginner Journey course. Playing became part of his morning routine, then a daily hobby, and eventually his work.
What a visit at wohl.klang is like
Daniel wants his studio to feel like a small refuge from everyday noise: warm, cosy and quiet. First-time visitors get no rules and no tasks. They discover the handpan at their own pace, and Daniel stays close to their intuition. The most common beginner mistake he sees is playing too fast, before every note has time to ring out clearly.
What surprises people is how soft the sound is. Hearing it live and feeling the vibrations is a completely different experience: the body relaxes almost immediately.
– Daniel Rheinhold
His advice for buying a handpan
Daniel is firmly on team 440 Hz, because it lets you play together with other handpan players and instruments. For the scale, he recommends listening to different options, online first and then in person if you can.
His own instruments show where the journey can lead: after the D Kurd he now plays an extended D Kurd with additional low notes, and a YataoPan C Ashakiran 15 whose chords amazed him from the first minute.
Does everyone have a musical voice?
Daniel's answer is a clear yes. Some people are more creative than others, but everyone carries the basics of music, and every learning path is different. With motivation and the willingness to practise, anyone can learn.
