Let’s meet Ralf van den Bor. Not only is he a very good friend of mine but also his handpans called Ayasa are truly amazing! I am using them a lot on stage in my set. I love their warm timber, balance, precision, overtones and sustain. We have here in my opinion very high quality handpans.

Could you tell us a bit more about yourself? Your professional path, how long have you been playing the handpan? How long have you been building?

After trying a few studies and being in different working environments, I started making handpans about 4 years ago. At the time I was playing handpan for almost a year.

I live in the center of the Netherlands, very close to the workshop in a place called Baarn. My main passion is still the handpan: building them, innovating the building process and as important, playing them! Besides playing the Handpan, I started learning how to play the piano, keyboard and a few different percussion instruments. Other passions are traveling, (eastern) philosophy and self-development.

What decided you to start building handpans?

Having never played any musical instrument before, the yearning to start to express through music became bigger and bigger in the year 2012. After my best friend Rick (now co-worker at Ayasa) showed me a video of the Handpan, I was hooked! It didn’t take long until I had my first instrument and I started playing in December 2012. In the year 2013, I visited my first handpan gatherings, quit my job and studies and built my first fully tuned instrument at the end of that year.

How did you find the name of your instrument, why did you call it that way? What’s the story behind it?

The search for a name was a long journey for me! It was something that I knew would probably be attached to me for a big part of my life. And so I decided to wait until I found the right name that I would feel connected with. Being inspired by eastern philosophy, I was looking for a Sanskrit word describing exactly what for me the instrument really is. I found that “Ayasa” means Iron in Sanskrit. It resonated with me as iron is the main source material of steel and thus of the instrument.

What do you like the most about handpan? about our community?

The possibilities it can give for expression. I see the instrument as a tool, it is there to say something, to express something to someone, to no-one or to oneself. As well as the possibility to have a dialogue with someone when playing together! Any emotions that are inside of me, are waiting to be expressed through the handpan. To be able to create instruments for others and give them these possibilities is something truly amazing!

The handpan community is something very special to me. There are so many heartwarming people who play the instrument, they are my kind of people. I made some really good friends within the community and shared many good times at many gatherings, festivals and other places over the last few years.

What do you like the most about making instruments?

That all the energy you put in the instrument has an effect on the outcome! Tuning while not being in the best mood for example, is not the best idea. It asks you to be grounded and to be in the here and now, which is a state of mind I am trying to be in at all times. Making these instruments has taught me a lot of life lessons and continues to do so. We are so early in the making of these instruments that there are always new processes, skills and innovations to be discovered and developed. There’s no end to it, we can always grow further.