Steelpan a phenomenal musical instrument

An Overview of the Steelpan

The steelpan, steel drum or pan as it is called, is part of the world's ocean of musical apparatus. It is a simple-looking instrument that produces a wide range of pitches (G1-F6) on the chromatic scale (12 tone scale in tonal music). It originated in the small Caribbean twin-island state of Trinidad & Tobago in the early to mid 1900s. When played collectively with other musicians, this is referred to as steelband or a steel orchestra and the players themselves are called pannists.

It is made from standard 55 US-gallon industrial steel drum containers used in the shipment of chemicals internationally, hence the term 'drum' referring to the cylindrical steel container from which it is made. The straight stick or Panstick as it is called, seen in the photo above, is used in a pair to play the pan and sometimes 2 pairs, one held in each hand, are used by pannists for more tonal nuance. The tip of the sticks have different sized rubber fitted to them according to the class of pan being played.

History of this relatively new but amazing percussion piece.

Tunable sticks called "Tamboo Bamboos" made of the popular Bamboo wood were the first musical instruments developed in the evolution of the Steelpan. These bamboo sticks of different sizes, were hit against other sticks and the ground to produce sound. When these islanders wanted music in the form of a band these Tamboo Bamboos were used together with percussion of a bottle, typically a Gin bottle and spoon. As time went by during the mid 1930s more metal items were being added to Tamboo Bamboo bands, notably an old automotive brake hub known as "iron" and commonly a large biscuit tin know as "Boom". In subsequent years the latter replaced the "Bass" bamboo that was pounded on the ground and the former, the gin bottle and spoon. Pretty soon nearly all items played were metal.

In Trinidad & Tobago, one of the first all steel bands emerged in 1939 and by 1940 under privileged young mean sort this engagement as an accompaniment for Carnival season music. From around 1947, the 55 US gallon steel drums were used to make Steepans. The "Trinidad All Steel-Pan Percussion Orchestra" (TASPO) was formed in 1951 consisting roughly of 12 members to participate in the festival of Britain. That year marked the introduction of the newly invented instrument and the Calypso music genre to an international audience and this was the group that took on that responsibility by traveling abroad from Trinidad & Tobago to perform. The band was the first to have all their instruments made from oil drums. They performed on July 26, 1951 at the London South Bank as well as elsewhere in Britain and even Paris before returning home in December of that year.

A T&T national, Winston "Spree" Simon (1930 - 1976) created the notes on the convex metal containers used for making Steelpans. He worked closely with Anthony Williams (1931-2021) also a notional of Trinidad & Tobago a.k.a "Muffman". Anthony designed the "fourths and fifths" arrangements of notes know in music as the circle of fifths which became the standard form of note placement for lead pans. The note's size corresponds to the pitch, the larger the oval , the lower the tone. A pan can have around 30 soprano-range notes. Contemporaries, Bertie Marshall and Alan Gervais also T&T nationals, developed the tuning of harmonic overtones in individual notes independently but simultaneously with Muffman's design. These four men are largely considered the inventors, pioneers and musicians of the Steelpan as the word today knows it. They were all awarded by their homeland for their contribution. 

During the 1970s mass production of raw forms of the pan were done in Sweden in collaboration with Swiss company Saab and overseen by The Caribbean Research Institute CARIRI.  Although somewhat successful, due to lack of finance and support by pan tuners in Trinidad the project was abandoned. As years went by other methods such as spinning using lathes and presses to sink the pan were explored to create presunk pans. Scratching and grooving occurred in the steel from such a process and usually resulted in cracks in the steel from the already stretched steel. Methods of brazing and grinding done near the end of the sinking process and well before final shaping, usually fixed these problems without interfering with the sound. More advances with the steel were made as time passed using various methods to make the whole production easier. A notable Swiss company that aligned itself with this venture is PANArt who invented a composite material called "Pang".

The 'skirt' of the pan, the part that is below the top rim and extending down (the side of the cylinder) can vary in length / height. Usually the larger bass pans will have the full skirt which uses the entire drum with the higher tone pans using just 1/3 or less of the drum. Finished pans are usually painted or chrome plated. Other processes including nickle plating, powder-coating or hardening may also be applied. 

Modern methods of tuning include using electronic strobe tuners for tuning the notes and overtones. Pan tuners over the years have come to realize that a strobe tuner makes a Steelpan bring out its finest overtones when done right. Irregular handling and hitting the pan with excessive force can eventually make it go out of tune and as a result, Steelbands arrange to have their pans tuned once or twice a year. As with many musical instruments, it takes great skill to tune a Steelpan to make the notes sound correct pitch and good and these people are quite professional in their work especially when you consider that most of the tuning is performed using different types of hammers.

Feel the warmth of the Caribbean vibes flowing though yourself!

So the next time you take a cruise, visit a tropical island or listen to some Caribbean flavored music like Calypso and Soca,  be sure to listen for the sweet subtlety of this amazing instrument in the interlude piece and I am sure you will enjoy every bit of those ringing melodious tones that propagate to bring a sense of tropical warmth to your body and soul which can create the perfect atmosphere for a memorable vacation. Perhaps that's why you will almost always hear the sound of this beautiful instrument on any cruise ship even if it emanates from their loudspeakers.

Photo licensed under CC BY 2.0

Original photo (top) by Terry Ballard from Merrick, New York, USA