Pantheon Steel Halo Cirrus in the Arboreal tuning, with an Inpex (inset center note), Eb Bb Cb Db Eb Gb Bb Cb Db, demonstrated by Kyle Cox (Halo Maker). This instrument was made with a new fabrication process informally dubbed 'neutro' because it is a new application of 'retro' techniques used on early Halos. For best audio quality, watch at 480p or higher. Arboreal is a pentatonic variation to our popular Hyboreal sound model and a kissing cousin to the Oxalis sound model of our Stratus. Compared to the latter, it offers the same tonefield arrangement around the circle, but around a center note a third lower. (The whole is also a half step lower). Where early morning sunshine (in a G major) defines Oxalis, Arboreal, with its more isolated center, is firmly in Eb minor. In this context, the same circle evokes shade of the forest wall at the edge of the garden. Still green and alive, and just touched with sun... but defined by mossy shadows and roots going deep into dark moist earth. The fifth jump to the circle diminishes the presence of the relative key of Gb major, which is still hidden within, but subdued by the lack of an anchoring low Gb (which another cousin, Equinox, would have in this key). About the Inpex (inset center note): This is a design we we are exploring enthusiastically right now. Though it looks (and at first,feels!) strange to players used to a conventional center dome, it offers some real advantages. The overall timbre of the instrument is distinctly clarified and the entire range feels 'unified.' While this takes some getting used to, it is a brand new experience for a handpan player -- a wonderful new option to explore.

• published: 11 Feb 2014
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