Ricky Hillson on Teaching, RAVs & the Changing Handpan World

In this episode of Handpan Voices, I’m joined by Ricky Hillson for a wide-ranging conversation about teaching, songwriting, RAV instruments, and the changing future of the handpan community.Ricky shares his journey from high school English teacher to full-time music teacher and performer, and reflects on how his background in guitar and songwriting shaped the way he approaches both the handpan and the RAV Vast. We talk about the balance between playing for joy and practising with purpose, how melodies become full compositions, and why structure does not have to kill creativity.We also explore Ricky’s long connection with Rav Labs and discuss three of their instruments in particular: the Rav Vast, the Rav Moon, and the newer chord-based Rav Anima. Ricky shares how these instruments differ in feel, sustain, and musical application, and why they have opened up different creative possibilities for players coming from both melodic and meditative backgrounds.A major part of this discussion also focuses on the changing handpan world itself — including affordability, Chinese-made instruments, online gatekeeping, and why inclusivity matters if the community is going to grow in a healthy way.If you care about where the handpan world is heading, and how we can keep it welcoming while it expands, this is a conversation worth hearing.