Magical A2 Celtic Minor / Amara | Titanium Steel

With their powerful and deep sound, the Magical Handpans represent sensuality. Their shape and subtle vibrations symbolically imply the feminine. Their magical sound field is characterized by very stable tones.
Each individual handpan is carefully crafted with attention to detail. As perfectly balanced musical instruments, they are brought into optimal shape and harmony. The Magical Handpans are robust and at the same time elegant in their delicacy.
This handpan has its origins in Spain. A huge press machine supplies the raw material for a group of local manufacturers, stamping the hemispherical basic shape onto the highest quality steel shells. The joint optimization always guarantees the best quality. Manual hammering power brings the Magical Handpans to their sound excellence, blow by blow.

Tuning : Celtic Minor
Synonym : Amara
Basic tone sequence: A/ EGABCDEG
Atmosphere : Melancholic- Archaic- Medieval
Mode : Minor - Aeolian
Tone range : Hexatonic

Semitones: 7-3-2-2-1-2-2-3

Tonal Center: DING


Mood description:

With this timeless selection of tones (Amara) you can easily conjure up sounds that are reminiscent of times gone by with pure fifths and fourths. This instrument might have found its place in spiritual ceremonies in Celtic times. Compared to the full Aeolian mode, the sixth step is missing here, which makes this tuning a little more open. You can play very beautiful harmonies, especially in the upper range. This is one of the most popular tunings in the world of handpans.

Characteristic of Amara/Celtic Minor is the jump from DING to the first note in the interval of a perfect fifth (example DA). This fifth jump immediately opens up the tonal space and gives context to the notes above it. The next note is a minor third above the fifth, which in turn is reminiscent of the natural tone series. From here there are two whole tone steps, a half tone step, two whole tone steps and the jump of the minor third to the highest note of the tuning, which results from the absence of the sixth degree (example D Celtic Minor: note Bb).

This tuning sounds particularly archaic because it allows the playability of many pure intervals (fifth, fourth, octave) that were already used in the Middle Ages.

Another special feature arises from the arrangement of the notes: In the example of D Celtic Minor, the notes on the right side form the triad of the fundamental note, in this case D minor (ADFA). On the left side, however, all the notes of the major triad are one note below the fundamental note, i.e. C major (CEGC). When playing harmoniously, the sound impression of major can easily be reproduced. It is not for nothing that this is probably the most common handpan tuning.

Suitable moods:

Very suitable for collaborative, improvisational playing:

• C Major (Parallel Tuning)
• C Sabye (parallel tuning)
• B Aeolian
• E Celtic Minor / Amara
• A Kurd
• D Ragadesh

Also good for composing together:

• F# Celtic Minor / Amara
• G Aegean
• B Celtic Minor
• B Kurd
• G Celtic Minor / Amara
• G Kurd
• D Sabye