Handpan Constellation Studio turns the handpan into an instrument you can sing along to
Handpan artist David Lesage launches an app that makes music visible. Colours, shapes and constellations replace sheet music, on any handpan, acoustic or digital.
Handpan Constellation Studio has been open to the public since 31 October 2026 at play.handpanstudio.app. Created by David Lesage, a handpan player and singer, the web app lets anyone play songs and sing along on the handpan, with no prior musical training. Its free account, with no card and no time limit, already covers the essentials: recognise your scale, see every chord your instrument can play, and play the songs it can handle.
The piano has sheet music. The guitar has tabs. The handpan only had numbers and letters. Handpan Constellation Studio gives it a language of its own: seven colours, and chords that light up on screen like constellations. The goal is to put the handpan alongside the piano and the guitar, as an instrument that accompanies a voice.
It takes three steps. Play a few notes into the microphone: the app recognises the scale and identifies the instrument, drawing on 74 known shells and 541 listed workshops. It then shows the chords that handpan can play, followed by the songs in its catalogue that work as they are, with the chords drawn above the lyrics. On a D Kurd 18, 157 songs from the catalogue can be played without any adaptation. Music theory is never far away: players start with colours and emotions, and note names appear when they ask for them.
"One of its missions, its very reason for being, is to bring the handpan up to the level of the guitar or the piano, by making visible what is usually approached intuitively, and by showing how to complete a scale."
David Lesage is the proof of concept: he sings while accompanying himself on the handpan, and the app was born from that need.
"In August 2023 I started a document to work out, at last, how to build my chords across the two pans. […] That document became Handpan Constellation Studio."
The app works with any acoustic handpan, whoever made it, and a digital handpan can be connected too. With two instruments, it reveals the chords of a duo that neither handpan has on its own.
Three plans. The Free plan covers your scale, your chords, the songbook, finding your voice, practice (technique, chords, rhythm) and saving everything you create. Essential (€3.49 a month or €29.99 a year) adds, among other things, song transposition, offline play and a drummer to play along with. Studio (€9.99 a month or €89 a year) unlocks the singing exercises, playing with two handpans, stage mode and MIDI export. The first month is free on monthly plans. In all, the plan comparison lists 32 features. A plan for teachers, Teach (student tracking, lessons, homework), has been announced and is coming soon.
The app is available in seven languages, in the browser, on a large screen: computer, tablet or unfolded foldable phone.
About David Lesage
A drummer by training, David Lesage started playing drums at the age of 4 and learned by ear. Now a handpan player and singer, he took part in the blind auditions of The Voice France (TF1, season 11, broadcast in February 2022). He runs a showroom in Paris.
About Handpan Constellation Studio
Handpan Constellation Studio is a web app for learning and playing the handpan, acoustic or digital. It turns music theory into colours, shapes and constellations, so anyone can play and sing without reading music.
The piano has sheet music, the guitar has tabs. The handpan now has seven colours, and chords that light up like constellations. Music made visible: you play by colour, shape and geometry, with no prior skills.
Key figures (all taken from the app or its public page)
Features listed in the plan comparison
32 available (9 Free, 12 Essential, 11 Studio), plus 7 announced for Teach
Handpan shells known to the app
74
Workshops listed on the map
541
Catalogue songs playable as they are on a D Kurd 18
157
Interface languages
7
Colours in the visual language
7
Constellation shapes for one chord
3 (closed, open, hands)
Display levels
3 (Discovery, Apprentice, Musician)
Free, forever, no card
The free account is not a trial: it has no time limit. In practice, it lets you:
Recognise your scale through the mic. Play a few notes; the app recognises the scale and finds your instrument, even if you don't know its name.
See all your instrument's chords, in colours and constellations (three shapes: closed, open, hands), with the emotion of each one.
Play tonight the songs your handpan can play: chords drawn above the lyrics, like a guitar chord chart, but in shapes and colours.
Add your own songs: paste the chords and lyrics, or drop in the file, and the app shows the song on your handpan.
Find your voice: your vocal range measured, your comfort zone, the handpan key that suits your voice, a guide note and a drone. One voice passport per person.
Practise: guided technique lessons with the app listening through the mic, a conveyor belt that scrolls chord progressions, a metronome that tells you if you are ahead or behind, a practice ritual and progress tracking.
Choose your language: ChromaKeys colour the handpan by note or by its place in the scale; Logic mode speaks in feelings (happy, sad…) or in theory (major, minor…); three levels, from Discovery (colours and numbers) to Musician.
Save everything you create.
Find out which handpan to choose next.
Connect a digital handpan by USB MIDI.
Essential: €3.49 a month (first month free) or €29.99 a year
Everything in Free, plus: transpose your songs; play offline; scroll the score in time with the music; loop a passage to practise it; export your scores as PDFs or images; hear your scale in another key; see and hear your scale transposed; write your melodies; play with a drummer; practise with Note rain; print your chord card deck; play the chord card game. 12 features.
Studio: €9.99 a month (first month free) or €89 a year
Everything in Essential, plus: work on your pitch with the singing exercises; hear yourself in your headphones; play with two handpans; play on several handpans around you; play Logic mode on your digital pan; scale sync and recording management for a compatible digital handpan; go on stage with your sets; reveal the chords of your duo; export to MIDI and MusicXML; keep your compositions private; use the app on several devices at once. 11 features.
The duo. Two handpans together open up chords and keys that one alone does not have. The app reveals the chords that only exist when both are played together.
Monthly and yearly subscriptions renew automatically; change plan whenever you like, in the app. Yearly: paid in one go, no free month.
Coming next: Teach, for teachers
Announced as "Coming soon", no date: keep track of your students; give one-to-one and group lessons; manage your lesson calendar; record your lessons; set homework for your students; create and share your lessons; publish your teacher profile. 7 features announced. Price not published.
Requirements
A web browser on a large screen: computer, tablet, unfolded foldable phone. Nothing to download from an app store.
A microphone (the device's own) for scale recognition and listening to your playing.
Any acoustic handpan, or a digital handpan.
On iPhone and iPad, Apple prevents browsers from receiving an instrument plugged in by USB: to connect a digital pan, open the app in Web MIDI Browser, free on the App Store.
Media kit
Photos
Portrait of David Lesage.Download (WEBP)David Lesage singing Shape of My Heart, accompanying himself on the handpan.Download (WEBP)The chord constellation of Handpan Constellation StudioDownload (JPG)
App screenshots
A D Kurd 18 in the app: the handpan at the top, its seven chords in colour below, the first lit up as a constellation.Download (WEBP)The Scientist by Coldplay in the app, on a D Kurd 10: above the lyrics, each chord drawn on the handpan, in the colour of its degree.Download (WEBP)A chord as a closed constellation on an acoustic D Kurd 18 handpanDownload (WEBP)Chord I Balance in Sol major: its three notes in red, the colour of the first degree.Download (WEBP)Logic mode in emotional language: Happy, Deep sadness, Intense sadness, Bright sadness, Journey of sensations.Download (WEBP)David’s voice passport: his range runs from F2 to C6. His lowest, comfort and highest notes, and his comfort zone from E3 to C5, are shown on the colour keyboard.Download (WEBP)In the app: My practice ritual, the playing technique lessons, and your progress.Download (WEBP)
