Mudra Handpan was founded by Rafael Ortega — a musician, sound researcher, and builder based in Brazil. His path to handpan making was anything but direct: Rafael began as a drummer at age 10, expanded into guitar, piano, and didgeridoo, spent years studying acoustics and psychoacoustics, and travelled for two years before acquiring his first handpan. The moment he held one, something shifted. He decided to understand not just how to play it, but how to build it.
The name Mudra comes from the Sanskrit word for a hand gesture — a seal or key that connects the physical and the spiritual. For Rafael, the handpan embodies exactly that: an instrument played entirely with the hands, capable of reaching places that words cannot.
Today, Mudra is a small, dedicated team. Rafael builds and tunes. Lipe Araujo, an award-winning graphic designer and musician, leads sales, operations and design. Gabriel Pechitelli, a craftsman who trained in Spain and brings deep technical precision to every instrument, completes the workshop team. Together, they have built a reputation that now reaches professional players across Europe, Asia, and the Americas.
Mudra instruments are known for two things above all: exceptional tonal clarity across a wide note range, and a willingness to build extended and mutant configurations that many makers will not attempt.
