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The steelpan (also known as a pan, steel drum, and sometimes, collectively with other musicians, as a steelband or steel orchestra) is a
musical instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...
originating in
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
. Steelpan musicians are called pannists.


Description

The modern pan is a chromatically pitched percussion instrument made from 55 gallon industrial drums. ''Drum'' refers to the steel drum containers from which the pans are made; the steel drum is more correctly called a ''steel pan'' or ''pan'' as it falls into the
idiophone An idiophone is any musical instrument that creates sound primarily by the vibration of the instrument itself, without the use of air flow (as with aerophones), strings ( chordophones), membranes ( membranophones) or electricity ( electroph ...
family of instruments, and so is not a drum (which is a
membranophone A membranophone is any musical instrument which produces sound primarily by way of a vibrating stretched membrane. It is one of the four main divisions of instruments in the original Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification. ...
). Some steelpans are made to play in the Pythagorean musical cycle of fourths and fifths. Pan is played using a pair of straight sticks tipped with rubber; the size and type of rubber tip varies according to the class of pan being played. Some musicians use four pansticks, holding two in each hand. This grew out of Trinidad and Tobago's early 20th-century
Carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival t ...
percussion groups known as tamboo bamboo. Pan is the national instrument of
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago (, ), officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean. Consisting of the main islands Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous much smaller islands, it is situated south of ...
and also appeared as the final logo of their former national airline,
BWIA BWIA West Indies Airways Limited, known locally as "Bee-Wee" and also as British West Indian Airways and BWIA International, was the national airline based in Trinidad and Tobago. At the end of operations, BWIA was the largest airline operating o ...
and on the tails of their aircraft.


Origin

Steelpans developed in the early to mid 1900s, but with roots going back much earlier, including the
talking drum The talking drum is an hourglass-shaped drum from West Africa, whose pitch can be regulated to mimic the tone and prosody of human speech. It has two drumheads connected by leather tension cords, which allow the player to change the pitc ...
s of
West Africa West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali ...
n cultures. The hourglass-shaped drums were used for communicating messages at a distance with drum language. For example, the rhythm and pitch could indicate the location, time, and type of dancing during an upcoming ceremony. In the 18th century, persons from countries in West Africa were forcibly abducted to
Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...
to be sold at slave auctions. Persons of the same tribes and languages were deliberately separated and sold to different enslavers in an attempt to eradicate their traditions. In most cases, enslavers did not allow them to speak in their native tongues, forcing them to give up tradition and learn the enslaver's own language. In the 1780s, French colonists arrived in Trinidad and Tobago and brought street festival traditions. In 1785, plantation owners held the first Carnival in Trinidad. Many white plantation owners masqueraded as slaves (presumably in
blackface Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person. In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...
) and marched down the streets mocking African slave dress, singing, and dance customs, including banging on
talking drums The talking drum is an hourglass-shaped drum from West Africa, whose pitch can be regulated to mimic the tone and prosody of human speech. It has two drumheads connected by leather tension cords, which allow the player to change the pi ...
. Though they were mimicked, enslaved Africans were not allowed to join the festivities. In response, the Africans organized underground Carnivals of their own, taking place in cabins and backyards. Inspired by ancient traditions, Africans incorporated masks, feathers, beads, and drumming. In 1789, Spanish governor of Trinidad José María Chacón issued a directive that all Africans (the majority of the population) would observe Roman Catholic religion and all Christian holy days. The purpose was to further erase West African culture and religious beliefs. However, the enslaved Africans were able to preserve their traditions by camouflaging them within Christian holidays. For example, on Sundays, enslaved people would "put on their best clothes and go to drum dances held in different yards or on the land away from the plantation where they were allowed to grow their own crops...
hey Hey or Hey! may refer to: Music * Hey (band), a Polish rock band Albums * ''Hey'' (Andreas Bourani album) or the title song (see below), 2014 * ''Hey!'' (Julio Iglesias album) or the title song, 1980 * ''Hey!'' (Jullie album) or the title ...
would dance to the music and rhythms of the skin drums and gourd rattles." In 1834, slaves were emancipated in Trinidad and Tobago following the Slavery Abolition Act, but segregation and indentured servitude continued. After emancipation, Africans annually celebrated
Canboulay Canboulay (from the French ''cannes brulées'', meaning burnt cane) is a precursor to Trinidad and Tobago Carnival. The festival is also where calypso music has its roots. It was originally a harvest festival, at which drums, singing, dancing and c ...
, a
harvest festival A harvest festival is an annual celebration that occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times at different places. ...
involving calypso drumming. In 1881, the
Canboulay riots The Canboulay riots were a series of disturbances in the British colony of Trinidad and Tobago in 1881. The riots came about in response to efforts by the colonial police to restrict aspects of the island's annual Carnival festival. In Port of ...
occurred, which were a series of revolts during the festival. After this,
stick-fighting Stick-fighting, stickfighting, or stick fighting is a variety of martial arts which use simple long, slender, blunt, hand-held, generally wooden "sticks" for fighting, such as a gun staff, bō, jō, walking stick, baston, arnis sticks or simila ...
and African
percussion music A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Excl ...
were banned throughout the 1880s. They were replaced by
bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...
sticks beaten together, which were themselves banned in turn. In 1937 they reappeared in
Laventille Laventille is a ward of Trinidad and Tobago. Etymology The name ''Laventille'' hearkens back to colonial times, especially when the French dominated the cultural traditions of the island. One etymological derivation of the name is because the no ...
, transformed as an orchestra of
frying pan A frying pan, frypan, or skillet is a flat-bottomed pan used for frying, searing, and browning foods. It is typically in diameter with relatively low sides that flare outwards, a long handle, and no lid. Larger pans may have a small grab han ...
s,
dustbin A waste container, also known as a dustbin, garbage can, and trash can is a type of container that is usually made out of metal or plastic. The words "rubbish", "basket" and "bin" are more common in British English usage; "trash" and "can" a ...
lids, and oil drums. These steelpans are now a major part of the Trinidadian music scene and are a popular section of the Canboulay music contests. In 1941, the
U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...
established a presence in Trinidad. The pannists, who were associated with lawlessness and violence, helped to popularise steelpan music among the soldiers, which began its international popularisation. At the time of the steelpan's popularity in Trinidad it was seen as being associated with a violent or derelict crowd. It was unacceptable for women to be involved in such activities. Culturally the stigma was focused on the idea that women belonged in the home or with the children and not out in the street with the pan players. As the instrument became more mainstream women were allowed to join and the stigma that went along with playing the instrument subsided. The first instruments developed in the evolution of steelpan were tamboo bamboos, tunable sticks made of
bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...
wood. These were hit onto the ground and with other sticks in order to produce sound. Tamboo bamboo bands included percussion of a (gin) bottle and spoon. By the mid-1930s, bits of metal percussion were being used in the tamboo bamboo bands, the first probably being either the automobile brake hub "iron" or the biscuit drum "boom". The former replaced the gin bottle-and-spoon, and the latter the "bass" bamboo that was pounded on the ground. In 1939 the first all-steel band,
Alexander's Ragtime Band "Alexander's Ragtime Band" is a Tin Pan Alley song by American composer Irving Berlin released in 1911 and is often inaccurately cited as his first global hit. Despite its title, the song is a march as opposed to a rag and contains little sync ...
, emerged, and by 1940 it had become the preferred carnival accompaniment of young underprivileged men. The 55-gallon oil drum was used to make steelpans from around 1947. The Trinidad All-Steel Pan Percussion Orchestra (TASPO), formed to attend the Festival of Britain in 1951, was the first steelband whose instruments were all made from oil drums. They performed July 26, thus introducing the steelpan and a new music genre to the world. 2022
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commemorated the event. Members of TASPO included
Ellie Mannette Elliott Anthony "Ellie" Mannette (5 November 1927 – 29 August 2018) was a Trinidadian musical instrument maker and steel pan musician, also known as the "father of the modern steel drum". Life Born in Sans Souci, Trinidad, Mannette as a young ...
and
Winston "Spree" Simon Winston "Spree" Simon (1930 – 18 April 1976) was a Trinidadian inventor, pioneer and musician of the steelpan. Life Simon was born in Laventille, Trinidad. He is credited with the invention of the ''Ping Pong'' steelpan instrument. Simon also w ...
. Hugh Borde led the National Steel Band of Trinidad & Tobago at the Commonwealth Arts Festival in England, as well as the
Esso Tripoli Steel Band The Esso Trinidad Steel Band was a steel band from Trinidad, active from 1942 to 1976. History The group began in 1942 as the Tripoli Steel Band, named after a lyric in the United States Marines' Hymn.World's Fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...
in Montreal, Canada, and later toured with
Liberace Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer, and actor. A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, he enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordi ...
. They were featured on an album with him.


Evolution and developments

Anthony Williams designed the "fourths and fifths" arrangement of notes, known as the
circle of fifths In music theory, the circle of fifths is a way of organizing the 12 chromatic pitches as a sequence of perfect fifths. (This is strictly true in the standard 12-tone equal temperament system — using a different system requires one interval of ...
. This has become the standard form of note placement for lead pans. Other important developments include the tuning of harmonic overtones in individual notes, developed simultaneously and independently by Bertie Marshall and Alan Gervais. The Caribbean Research Institute CARIRI investigated possibilities to mass-produce raw forms with the use of pressing machines in the 1970s. Much of this project took place in
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
in collaboration with the Saab Company. Although first results were promising, the project has been abandoned due to lack of finances and support by local pan tuners in Trinidad. Another method of shaping the pan was attempted: by spinning. The pan was spun on a
lathe A lathe () is a machine tool that rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation to perform various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, deformation, facing, and turning, with tools that are applied to the workpiece ...
-like device, and a roller on the end of a bar was used to sink the pan. While this did create pre-sunk pans, a problem was that there would often be scratches and grooves in the steel. Since the steel is stretched and thin, any scratch will expand and often crack. Usually, drums have lettering embossed into the bottom. If done carefully, these can sometimes be stretched without breaking, but cracks around lettering on some drums is common. To avoid this problem, makers position the inner notes to avoid most of the letters.
Brazing Brazing is a metal-joining process in which two or more metal items are joined together by melting and flowing a filler metal into the joint, with the filler metal having a lower melting point than the adjoining metal. Brazing differs from ...
over the holes and grinding, will often fix the problems, without damaging the sound, but it has to be done nearly at the end of the sinking process and well before any final shaping. A Swiss steelpan manufacturer (PANArt) researched the field of fine-grain sheet steel and developed a deep-drawn raw form which was additionally hardened by nitriding. This process, and the new instruments they called ''pang'', were presented at the International Conference of Steel pan and Science in Port-of-Spain in 2000. Electronic steelpans have also been developed. One such version is the E-Pan, invented by Salmon Cupid, who holds utility patents for it. Another is the Percussive Harmonic Instrument (PHI).


Construction

The note's size corresponds to the pitch—the larger the oval, the lower the tone. The size of the instrument varies from one pan to another. It may have almost all of the "skirt" (the cylindrical part of the oil drum) cut off and around 30 soprano-range notes. It may use the entire drum with only three bass notes per pan, in which case one person may play six such pans. The length of the skirt generally corresponds to the ''
tessitura In music, tessitura (, pl. ''tessiture'', "texture"; ) is the most acceptable and comfortable vocal range for a given singer or less frequently, musical instrument, the range in which a given type of voice presents its best-sounding (or characte ...
'' (high or low range) of the drum. The pans are usually either painted or chrome plated. Other processes such as nickel plating, powdercoating, or hardening can also be applied as a finish. Despite being a relatively new member of the percussion family, steelpan tuning techniques have advanced rapidly. Strobe tuners are ideally suited for the task. The need to see the first few overtones further makes a strobe tuner a necessity for steelpan tuning. Steelpan makers have used strobe tuners since it was discovered that, by adjusting the overtones (first (fundamental), second, and third partial), the pan's sound seemed to sparkle in a way that it did not previously. There are several ways in which a steelpan may become out of tune (most commonly this is caused by playing the steelpan with excessive force and incorrect handling) and it is quite common that steelbands arrange to have their instruments tuned once or twice a year. A tuner must have great skill in their work to manage to make the notes sound both good and at the correct pitch. Much of the tuning work is performed using hammers. In 2019 Kyle Dunleavy created fully chromatic Steelpans with sharps and flats, and would go down to the C below middle C. 21


Classification

In the beginning of the steelband movement, players would play a single pan only, now commonly called ''around the neck'' instruments. Later on, some steelpans became
chromatic Diatonic and chromatic are terms in music theory that are most often used to characterize scales, and are also applied to musical instruments, intervals, chords, notes, musical styles, and kinds of harmony. They are very often used as a p ...
by using multiple pans, particularly for the bass registers, which have fewer notes per pan owing to the larger sizes of the lower note areas. Following are some of the most popular instruments:


Music and competitions

The repertoire of the steelband is extensive. Steelbands in Trinidad have a tradition of re-interpreting the current year's calypsos for carnival performance; rarely will a calypso from a previous year be heard at carnival or the
Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined i ...
music competition. Bands that perform all year round (both in Trinidad and in the so-called 'pan diaspora') have long prided themselves on being able to perform many types of music, particularly Latin and jazz numbers, film music and other popular tunes. Pannists also have a tradition of performing classical music which dates back to 1946, both in calypso tempo (known as "The Bomb") and straight (generally in concert or music festival contexts). In these contexts, accuracy and faithfulness to the original are highly prized. An international festival, the World Steelband Music Festival, has been held intermittently in Trinidad since 1964, where steelbands perform a test piece (sometimes specially composed, or a selected calypso); a piece of choice (very often a "classic" or European art-music work); and calypso of choice, in a concert-style venue. Panorama, the largest steelband contest in the world, occurs during Carnival celebrations in Trinidad. In 2020, the world's first online steelpan competition, PanoGrama, was launched by Nevin Roach. Since 1978 a national Panorama competition has been held in the United Kingdom as part of the annual Notting Hill Carnival celebration. Brooklyn, NY, home to a large West Indian population, has hosted an annual Steelband Panorama since 1972 as part of its annual Labor Day Carnival festivities. Steelpans were introduced to the genre of
jazz fusion Jazz fusion (also known as fusion and progressive jazz) is a music genre that developed in the late 1960s when musicians combined jazz harmony and improvisation with rock music, funk, and rhythm and blues. Electric guitars, amplifiers, and ke ...
by players such as Dave Samuels and
Othello Molineaux Othello Molineaux (born 1939) is a jazz steelpan player who spent much of his early career with Jaco Pastorius. He was among the earliest musicians to adapt the steelpan to jazz. He has worked with Monty Alexander, Chicago, and David Johansen. ...
in the 1970s, and
Jonathan Scales Jonathan Scales (born September 14, 1984) is an American steel pannist and composer. He has recorded and produced seven albums, the most recent being ''Mindstate Music'', released in 2019 on Ropeadope Records. Since 2007, Scales has recorded a ...
in the 2000s. They are featured in the early fusion album ''
Morning Dance ''Morning Dance'' is the second album by the jazz fusion group Spyro Gyra. The album was released in 1979 and was certified gold by the RIAA on September 19, 1979, and was certified platinum on June 1, 1987. At ''Billboard'' magazine, the album ...
'' by
Spyro Gyra Spyro Gyra is an American jazz fusion band that was formed in Buffalo, New York, in 1974. The band's music combines jazz, R&B, funk, and pop music. The band's name comes from '' Spirogyra'', a genus of green algae which founder Jay Beckenstei ...
.


Pannists

A pannist (sometimes ''panist'' or ''panman''), is a person who plays the steelpan. A professional pannist may perform solo, play with a steel band, or accompany singers or solo instrumentalists. Pannists may play with their respective bands in large competitions, and generally memorize everything that they perform. The pannist's top position in a Panorama steelband is that of the captain. These large ensembles often include section leaders: accomplished pannists that monitor the various voices in the band. Influential pannists include
Ellie Mannette Elliott Anthony "Ellie" Mannette (5 November 1927 – 29 August 2018) was a Trinidadian musical instrument maker and steel pan musician, also known as the "father of the modern steel drum". Life Born in Sans Souci, Trinidad, Mannette as a young ...
, the "Father of the Modern Steel Drum" and an accomplished panman, and
Winston "Spree" Simon Winston "Spree" Simon (1930 – 18 April 1976) was a Trinidadian inventor, pioneer and musician of the steelpan. Life Simon was born in Laventille, Trinidad. He is credited with the invention of the ''Ping Pong'' steelpan instrument. Simon also w ...
, the inventor and a skilled player of the "Ping Pong" pan.


Notable pannists

Musicians
Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffe ...
and Lord Kitchener are known for composing music later adapted to the steel pan. Noted pan tuners and producers include Darren Dyke, Mappo, Bertrand Kelman, and Herman Guppy.


See also

*
Hang (instrument) The Hang (; plural form: Hanghang) is a type of musical instrument called a handpan, fitting into the idiophone class and based on the Caribbean steelpan instrument. It was created by Felix Rohner and Sabina Schärer in Bern, Switzerland. ...
- a similar instrument with a convex rather than concave surface * Handpan - a musical instruments created from Hang


References

21 New Yorker Magazine page 17 December 20. 2021


Further reading

* Aho, William R. "Steel Band Music in Trinidad and Tobago: The Creation of a People's Music", ''Latin American Music Review'' 8 (1): 26–56, 1987. * Blake, Felix I. R. ''The Trinidad and Tobago Steel Pan: History and Evolution''. * Dudley, Shannon; ''Music from Behind the Bridge: Steelband Spirit and Politics in Trinidad and Tobago'', New York City: Oxford University Press; 2007; * Dudley, Shannon K. "Judging 'By the beat': Calypso versus soca", ''
Ethnomusicology Ethnomusicology is the study of music from the cultural and social aspects of the people who make it. It encompasses distinct theoretical and methodical approaches that emphasize cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other dim ...
'' 40 (2): 269–98, 1996. * Dudley, Shannon K. ''Making music for the Nation: Competing identities and Esthetics in Trinidad and Tobago's Panorama Steelband Competition''. PhD dissertation; University of California Berkeley, 353pp., 1997. * Dudley, Shannon K. "Dropping the Bomb: Steelband Performance and Meaning in 1960's Trinidad", ''Ethnomusicology'' 46 (1): 135–64, 2002. * Grant, Cy. ''Ring of Steel – Pan Sound and Symbol''. Macmillan Education, London, 1999. * Helmlinger, Aurélie
Geste individuel, mémoire collective: Le jeu du pan dans les steelbands de Trinidad et Tobago
''Cahiers de musiques traditionnelles'' 14 : 181–202, 2001. * Helmlinger, Aurélie. ''Mémoire et jeu d'ensemble ; La mémorisation du répertoire dans les steelbands de Trinidad et Tobago.'' PhD dissertation; Université Paris X Nanterre, Paris, 2005. * Helmlinger, Aurélie. "The influence of the group for the memorization of repertoire in Trinidad and Tobago steelbands". 9th International Conference on Musical Perception and Cognition proceedings, ed. by M. Baroni, A.R. Addessi, R. Caterina, M. Costa, Bologna, 2006. * Helmlinger, Aurélie. ''Les steelbands de Trinidad et Tobago : Ethnomusicologie cognitive d'une mémoire d'orchestre'', In Intellectica 48 (1) : 81–101, 2008. * Helmlinger, Aurélie.
Mémoriser à plusieurs. Expérience sur l’effet du groupe dans les steelbands (Trinidad et Tobago). Memorizing together. Group effect experiments in steelbands (Trinidad and Tobago)
'. Annales Fyssen 24 : 216–235, 2010. * Helmlinger, Aurélie.
La virtuosité comme arme de guerre psychologique
', Ateliers d'anthropologie, 35, 2011. * Kronman, Ulf. ''Steel Pan Tuning – a Handbook for Steel Pan Making and Tuning''. Part of the series, ''Musikmuseets skrifter'', 1992. ISSN 0282-8952 * Manuel, Peter. ''Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae'', 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2006. * Seeger, P. ''Steel drums – how to play them and make them'', Oak. Publ. New York, 1964. * Stuempfle, Stephen. ''The steelband movement. The forging of a national art in Trinidad and Tobago'', University of Pennsylvania Press, 287 pp., 1995. * Thomas, Jeffrey. ''Forty Years of Steel: An Annotated Discography of Steelband and Pan Recordings, 1951–1991''. Connecticut, USA: Greenwood Press, 1992.


External links


Pan Trinbago

Pan Jumbie

PanoGrama
*
Different Timbres
', 1980, Archives of Ontario YouTube Channel {{Authority control Central American and Caribbean percussion instruments Idiophones struck directly 20th-century percussion instruments Pitched percussion instruments Trinidad and Tobago musical instruments