Steel pan AKA Steel drum Steel pan Originated

Steel pan AKA Steel drum

Steel pan • Originated from The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago • Where is this country?

Steel pans • Steel pans are also called the steel drums or • • • pans. The modern steel pan is a chromatically pitched percussion instrument. Steel pans were originally made from 55 gallon drums that formerly contained oil and similar substances. Modern instrument makers do not use oil drums. Steel pan musicians are called pannists. The pan is the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago.

Origins of steel pans • French planters and their slaves emigrated • • to Trinidad during the French Revolution (1789) from Martinique (an island under British control north of Trinidad and Tobago) The French brought the Carnival with them. Slaves could not participate in Carnival, so they started their own celebration called, canboulay.

Origins of steel pans (cont. ) • After the Canboulay Riots of 1881 and 1884, African percussion music was banned. • The natives then used bamboo sticks, which were also eventually banned. • In 1937, the natives used frying pans, dustbin lids and oil drums for instruments.

Exporting the Sound • In 1941, the United States Navy arrived on the island of Trinidad. • The music became popular with the sailors and thus began the international popularization of the steel pans.

Playing the Steel Pan • The sticks the pannists use has rubber tips on them. The size of the stick depends on the size of the pan.

Notes on the Steel Pan • The soprano pans can have up to 30 notes per pan. Some bass pans have only 3 notes. (The larger the oval, the lower the sound. )

Chromatic pan (every note)

Diatonic pan (“progressing though the tones” or heptatonic scale)

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