The History of the Steel Pan

Amy Garner, Sarah Holland, Meggie Humphreys, Rochelle Gann

The steel pan was invented in Trinidad and Tobago in the 1930’s

The steel pan, or otherwise known as the steel drum, is the only instrument invented in the 20th century

Traced back to African slaves on the island in the 16th century

Music was their only link to Africa The Africans stomped on bamboo, and

they called themselves tamboo bamboo bands

The upper class banned the instrument

Craftsman discovered that dustbins made of metal provided sound when hammered

The first steel drum performers would carry a small drum in one hand and beat the metal with the other hand

After WWII, steel drums were made from discarded oil drums

The craftsmen would pound the flat metal into convex and concave profiles which created various pitches

Selection of Sounds

Register: TenorMusical Function: Low Harmony & Melody, Reinforce Bass

Four Cello

Six Bass

Register: BassMusical Function: Bass Lines, Bottom Chord Tones

D Lead

Register: SopranoMusical Function: Melody

http://www.mathsyear2000.org/museum/gallery1/steeldrum/

Register: AltoMusical Function: Melody,

Countermelody, Harmony

Creation of the Steel Pan

Phase 1- Supplies and Stretching

55-gallon oil drum is selected

40-pound sledgehammer is applied to the bottom of the barrel

stretch metal evenly without tearing

use the “tempering” process before moving on to next phase

Phase 2-Note Placement

template is used to mark placement of notes lines are drawn to guide tuner each note is “grooved”

Phase 3-TuningPhase 3-Tuning barrel side, or “skirt”, is cutbarrel side, or “skirt”, is cut uses hammers of various sizes and “pongs” uses hammers of various sizes and “pongs”

the notes from underneath of panthe notes from underneath of pan stretching and smoothing of the bubbled areas stretching and smoothing of the bubbled areas

for tuning purposesfor tuning purposes each note is tuned in relation to the other noteseach note is tuned in relation to the other notes http://www.toucans.net/multimedia/PanTuning-http://www.toucans.net/multimedia/PanTuning-

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Phase 4-Painting• each steel pan is painted according

to how the person feels• it can be colorful or just chrome• this detunes the pans so tuning is

done once more

Hopetown Lighthouse

Duo featuring Larry and JanetIntroduced to Steel Drums by Dave BeeryFirst Performance in 1995

Ob-la-de, Ob-la-da

Their Music

Traditional tropical songsOld Caribbean folk tunesFavorites from Jimmy BuffetJazz Selections

Don’t Worry Be Happy

Other Steel Drum Musicians

Sir Cedric LucesBob Lyons PanjiveJT’s Island SteelJRJim Wist

Red Red Wine by JR

Http://www.isu.edu/stdorg/special/csdb/history.htmlHttp://www.steeldrummusic.net/history.htmHttp://www.firstact.comHttp://www.panyard.com/pans/dblsec.aspHttp://www.toucans.net/Toc/makePan.htmlHttp://www.hopetownlighthouse.com/index.html