Gabriele Pollina

Italian drummer and handpan performer creating hypnotic, rhythm-forward music through improvisation, looping and combinations of acoustic and digital percussion.

Gabriele Pollina is an Italian percussionist and handpan artist whose musical foundation began with drums in early childhood. Before focusing on tuned steel, he played in projects spanning psychedelic rock, stoner music, punk and other rhythm-heavy styles. He encountered the handpan around 2012–2013 and carried that broad rhythmic background into street performance, international touring and increasingly electronic live arrangements. Pollina uses handpan with digital percussion, loops and layered production, allowing repeated grooves to develop into atmospheric, sometimes intense compositions. Releases including Handpan Improvisation and later produced work document both spontaneous flow and a more produced sonic identity. He also teaches through workshops and masterclasses. His work is best understood as a meeting point between handpan resonance, a drummer’s physicality and contemporary live-production techniques.