DIY e-HandPan

• Contributors: B. Collin, D. Fourer and E. Genotelle

DIY e-HandPan is an open-source electronic handpan designed for makers, musicians, educators, and researchers.

The project combines a custom electronic instrument based on piezoelectric sensors, RGB LEDs, and an ESP32-S3 microcontroller with a complete set of hardware documentation, firmware, and assembly instructions. The objective is to provide a low-cost, reproducible, and fully hackable electronic handpan suitable for education, prototyping, and musical performance.

If you use this work, please cite our paper

B. Collin, D. Fourer and E. Genotelle et al. A new low-cost DIY e-HandPan instrument based on Aruino Microcontroller. arXiv preprint arXiv:2608.10185

@article{collin2026diyehandpan,
  title={DIY e-HandPan: A new DIY Low-Cost Handpan Interface based on Arduino and ESP32 Microcontrollers}, 
  author={Benoit Collin and Dominique Fourer and Eric Genotelle},
  journal={arXiv preprint arXiv:2608.10185},
  year={2026},
  primaryClass={cs.SD},
  url={https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.10185}, 
}

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Features

• 🥁 14 pressure-sensitive playing pads
• 🎵 Low-latency audio engine running on ESP32-S3
• 💡 Individual RGB LED feedback for each note
• 🌐 Embedded Wi-Fi configuration interface
• 🎼 MIDI support
• 🔊 Multiple sample banks
• 🔧 Fully open-source hardware and software
• 📚 Complete DIY assembly documentation

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Repository structure

.
├── eHandPan/
│   ├── ESP32/          # Main firmware (PlatformIO)
│   ├── Arduino/        # Early Arduino prototypes
│   ├── AudioSamples/   # WAV sample libraries
│   ├── MidiLEDPlay/    # MIDI demonstration files
│   ├── projet_ardour8/ # Example of MIDI Expander project based on Ardour 8
│   └── tools/          # Programming and utility tools
│
├── instructions/       # Assembly manual (LaTeX + PDF)
│
├── handpan.mp4         # Demonstration video
│
└── LICENSE

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Hardware

The instrument is built around:

• ESP32-S3
• Piezoelectric sensors
• Analog conditioning electronics
• LED feedback system
• Stereo audio output
• Custom mechanical assembly based on stainless steel bowls

Construction tutorials

The complete construction guide is available in the instructions/ directory.

Step-by-step video tutorials are available to complement the written assembly instructions provided in this repository.

The tutorials illustrate the main construction steps, including:

• mechanical assembly of the salad bowls and playing surfaces;
• installation of the piezoelectric sensors and bi-color LEDs;
• wiring and soldering;
• DB25 connector assembly;
• Arduino and ESP32 electronic integration;
• firmware installation and configuration;
• final testing of the instrument.

🎥 YouTube construction tutorials: e-HandPan construction tutorials

The videos are intended as complementary visual guidance. All information required to reproduce the instrument is also provided in this repository.

ARDUINO

firmware

• HandPanPiezo.ino: Reads Analog signal from Piezo and emits a MIDI message (works with MocoLUFA, arduino Mega/Uno)
• HandPanTestLED.ino: Emits Signals to Digital ports for testing LED
• HandPanLED.ino: Process input MidiMessages and command LED

Parts of the project (python)

• MidiLEDPlay.py: Reas a midi file and send Message to serial port

tools

• MocoLuFA : firmware for simulating a Midi Instrument using Arduino Mega / Uno
• dfu-programmer: tool for flashing arduino firmware

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EPS 32

The main firmware is located in:

eHandPan/ESP32/

The project uses:

• PlatformIO
• ESP32-S3
• FreeRTOS
• Embedded Web Server
• Audio sample playback
• MIDI support

Precompiled firmware images are available in:

eHandPan/ESP32/firmware/

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Building the firmware

Install PlatformIO and compile:

cd eHandPan/ESP32
pio run

To upload:

pio run --target upload

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Documentation

This repository includes:

• Assembly manual
• Electronic schematics
• Hardware analyses
• Signal measurements
• Datasheets
• Development notes
• Audio samples

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Contributing

Contributions are welcome.

You can contribute by:

• improving the firmware;
• designing new hardware revisions;
• adding sound banks;
• improving documentation;
• reporting bugs.

Please open an Issue or submit a Pull Request.

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Authors

DIY eHandPan was created by B. Collin, D. Fourer and E. Genotelle

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License

This project is released under the MIT License.

See the LICENSE file for details.