HANDROMEDA Handpan D Kurd | Stainless Steel

Tuning Name: Kurd
Basic Note Sequence: D/ A Bb C D E F G A
Character: Warm - Mysterious - Dreamy
Note Range: Heptatonic

Mode: Phrygian (tonal center on the 1st note ) = Major
or Aeolian (tonal center : B) = Minor

Tonal Center : DING or first note
Semitones : 7- 1 - 2 - 2 - 2- 3 - 2 - 2

Description of Kurd Tuning:
The Kurd tuning is, if you will, the natural minor variant of the handpan tunings. Due to its particularly harmonious arrangement of notes, it is especially well suited for beginners. With it, you can play everything from calm and meditative to melancholic, powerful, and joyful.

Even though this tuning can sound very sentimental, you can also create joyful soundscapes with it. For example, the second and third notes each form a major triad. Just be aware that the second and third notes will rub when played together; of course, you can also deliberately use this tension to add spice to your playing and make the subsequent relaxation feel even stronger. 

This tuning is one of the first heptatonic tunings ever made and has become very well known through several videos on the internet.
 

Origin and Music Theory of the Kurd Tuning:

Kurd takes its name from the Arabic / Turkish Maqam Kurd. This maqam also shares the arrangement of notes with this tuning, assuming that the tonal center is on the first note in the circle. This creates the full Phrygian mode, which is characterized by a semitone step (semitone) from the root note to the second note of the scale and is responsible for the mysterious sound of the scale.

However, an ambiguity remains, as the DING is a fifth below the first note and thus acts as a second tonal center, which changes the mode to Aeolian (natural minor). Depending on the style of playing, you can thus switch between natural minor and Phrygian sound characters. With Kurd you can play everything from calm and meditative to melancholic, powerful, and joyful.

Kurd shares with other minor variations (cf. Celtic Minor/ Integral) the jump of a fifth from the DING to the first note. From this fifth step, assuming that the tonal center is the DING, you have all the steps of a natural minor scale (Aeolian). Kurd is particularly notable for the semitone step (semitone) between the first and second notes. This step is also present in the namesake Maqam Kurd (Arabic or Turkish scale system) (cf. Semai Kurd), but also in the Phrygian mode. The Phrygian mode is used in jazz, psychedelic rock, flamenco, and fado, but also in classical music. 

Possible Note Sequences: 

Basic 9-note sequence: D3/ A Bb C D E F G A

10-note sequence: D3/ A Bb C D E F G A C

12-note sequence: D3 /(F G)A Bb C D E F G A C
Mutant: D3/ A Bb C D E F G A C {D E}

13-note sequence: D3 /(E F G)A Bb C D E F G A C

14-note sequence: (Bb2 C3) D3 /(F G)A Bb C D E F G A C
Mutant: D3 /(F G)A Bb C D E F G A C {D E}

15-note sequence: D3 /(E F G)A Bb C D E F G A C {D E}

16-note sequence: D3 /(F G)A Bb C D E F G A C {D E} (F G)

17-note sequence: (Bb2 C3) D3 /(E F G)A Bb C D E F G A C {D E}

18-note sequence: (Bb2 C3) D3 /(F G)A Bb C D E F G A C {D E} (F G)

19-note sequence: (Bb2 C3) D3 /(F G)A Bb C D E F G A C {D E} (F G A)
 

*Notes in parentheses are "bottom notes" (notes on the lower shell of the handpan)
Upon request, these can also be made with other notes than indicated. Simply write an email with your request to: service@handpan.world

** Notes in curly brackets { } are installed in a second row on the top of the handpan
 

Matching Tunings:
Very suitable for playing together and improvising:

• F Sabye (Relative Major)
• F Major (Relative Major)
• D Celtic Minor / Amara
• G Celtic Minor / Amara
• D Aeolian
• Bb Aegean
• D Equinox
• D Magic Voyage
• D Integral
• D Pygmy

Also suitable for composing together:

• A Celtic Minor / Amara
• A Hijaz
• C Kurd
• C Celtic Minor / Amara
• F Ragadesh