A musician who has spent decades playing unusual instruments has opened what he believes is the only specialist handpan and didgeridoo shop in the UK in Darwen.
Peter Green, 60, has launched Pan and Drones, based above Imaginarium in Bolton Road, after years of travelling and busking around Europe with the instruments.
He said he decided to swap online content creation for a bricks-and-mortar business.
“I play both instruments anyway, and I was getting tired of having to make loads of online film, editing and stuff, so I thought I’d do a shop instead,” he said.
Peter has been playing the handpan for around 16 years and the didgeridoo for about 40, picking up the latter while travelling and making them abroad.
Developed by Aboriginal Australians more than 1,000 years ago, the didgeridoo is a wind instrument played by vibrating your lips and using a technique called circular breathing.
The handpan is a far more modern invention, with the percussion instrument dating back to 2000.
He said: “The didgeridoo was primarily from travelling around the world and making them.
“The handpan was busking all over Europe with them, and I couldn’t find the scales that I needed, so I thought I’d just invest all the money and learn to make them.”
As well as making his own instruments, he stocks other makes and says the didgeridoos on offer are “pro-performing instruments” rather than tourist pieces.
“You might get the odd Bali shop which has an awful didgeridoo, but the ones I carry are pro-performing instruments, there’s a massive difference between them,” he said.
Peter describes the handpan as a new instrument for the 21st century, with origins in the Caribbean, while the didgeridoo is often described as the oldest woodwind instrument on the planet.
Peter, originally from Northamptonshire, has recently returned to the UK after a long spell abroad playing the instruments across Europe.
The shop has only just opened and operates on an appointment-only basis.
Appointments can be made via WhatsApp on 07505 678701 or by emailing pphandpans@gmail.com or sotadidgeridoo@gmail.com.
He also offers workshops covering everything from beginner to “pro” level handpan playing, as well as didgeridoo sessions teaching circular breathing, basic playing and a masterclass open to all.
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