Hi Quentin! It’s great to have you here on MasterTheHandpan, I’ll let you introduce yourself...

Hi David, thanks for inviting me into your living room, your whisky is delicious...So, I’m Quentin Kayser, that’s my real surname and I’m nothing like Keyser Söze from ‘The Usual Suspects’.

When I was 3 years old my mum rented a house in the countryside near to Toulouse in which, to her great delight, the owners had left a piano. That piano became the world’s best babysitter, I would sit and play it all day. Since then, not a day goes by that I don’t play music.

Can you tell us about your newly-released album ‘Healing’?

Of course, but first I’d like to thank everyone who contributed to the crowdfunding campaign that got the project off the ground. Many of them are MTH readers and students so I’d like to take this opportunity to say a massive thanks!

‘HEALING’ is a solo handpan album. It’s actually my second album but the first to be recorded professionally, complete with barcode on the back. This album has 13 compositions and 1 interlude, I’ve always wanted to include an interlude in an album.

The inspiration for my compositions comes from my years living abroad and my travels around France and throughout the world. Each one tells a story or describes feelings and emotions based around these different experiences. I take you to Mexico with ‘Temazcal’, to Nepal with ‘Annapurna’ to Nepal and to 10 days of solitude with ‘Vipassana’.

Why ‘Healing’?

‍I have two reasons that come together to explain this title. In March 2018 I was in the city of Nîmes and someone who had never seen a handpan before started crying when I played for them. I remember very clearly how this felt at the time and attempted to translate this feeling through an improvised melody. I instantly had a feeling of energy and healing. This became the first few notes of track 3 entitled ‘Healing’.

The second reason comes from the intention behind this project. I believe that a song that comes from the heart, that is shared with love and listened to attentively has the power to touch the soul of the listener. The message of the album became clear and so the title ‘Healing’ made perfect sense.

What instruments do you play on the album?‍

On the album I play handpans from 4 different makers, all friends of mine who I would like to thank for their hard work…

• A Meraki by Jean François Dorsimon. A customised F Equinox scale with 2 bottom notes.
• An instrument from Elf made by Mayuko. A real monster with 20 notes, D Kurd scale with A2, a nice prototype with a special ding I like to call a ‘Dingple’ (between a ding and a dimple)
• A Mayura made by Rémi. A nice prototype in stainless steel in an A minor harmonic scale with a ding in E
• A Soulshine by Clemens, borrowed from my dad for the occasion (true fact: my dad has taken the MTH online course). A Kurd scale in C# called Annaziska.