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Steelpan (also known as pan or steel drum, and sometimes collectively with the musicians as a steelband) is a musical instrument and a form of music originating in Trinidad in the West Indies.
The pan is a pitched percussion instrument, tuned chromatically (although some toy or novelty steelpans are tuned diatonically), made from a 55 gallon drum of the type that stores oil, and is the only percussion/non-electric acoustic instrument to be invented in the 20th century. Drum refers to the steel drum containers from which the pans are made; the instrument is correctly called a pan (and pans are not - technically - regarded as drums).
Origins and Controversy
There is controversy concerning the steelpan's origins. Although it is reported that Winston "Spree" Simon took an old biscuit tin, and beat it with a corn cob to form a steelpan, the history of the evolution and development of the steelpan is more complex and nuanced than that. While Simon may have been the first to use biscuit tins, it quickly turned to ash cans and the steel drums made unintentionally available by the United States. Bunches of young African men can be credited with contributing to the steel pan. Only having scraps as their primary resources they used what they had to preserve aspects of their culture in the space of the Caribbean. Clearly being influenced by the mixture of those on the islands along with the desire for African drums, steel pan was formed. The development of the pan took place largely during WWII, the first record of a pan band in the press being in a report of the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival in the Trinidad Guardian dated Tuesday, February 6, 1940.
The BP Renegades Steel OrchestraOne of the oldest steelbands in the world is The Neal & Massy Trinidad All-Stars which celebrated its 70th anniversary in 2005.
Early bands were essentially rhythm bands. However during the 1940s discarded 55-gallon steel oil drums became the preferred type of pan and, perhaps noticing that constant drumming changed the tone of the pans, techniques were developed to tune them to enable melodies to be played. During WWII, tamboo bamboo bands, who usually performed during Trinidad's Carnival began using steel drums discarded by the US military (see Destroyers for Bases Agreement) to make advanced versions of their instruments. Ellie Mannette is credited as the first person to use an oil drum in 1946. By the late 1940s the music had spread to neighbouring islands.
In 1951 the Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra (TASPO) took the music to the Festival of Britain in the United Kingdom - pan music still features in the annual Notting Hill Carnival.
In 1957, Rear Admiral Daniel V. Gallery formed what became the US Navy Steel Band, which toured the world as ambassadors for the U.S. Navy until 1999.
During the 1960s the tuner Anthony Williams developed a pan - the fourths and fifths - that has since become the standard design used today.
Two Americans, George Whitmyre and Harvey J. Price, have secured a US patent for "the process of formation of a Caribbean steelpan using a hydroforming press". This patent is being challenged by the Trinidad and Tobago Legal Affairs Ministry, since many Trinbagonian drum makers have used similar methods for years.
Steelbands in the early years were looked down upon by upper class society, and the panplayers were seen as undesireables. This view has completely reversed to the point where there are many more church steelbands than conventional bands
Construction
Woman playing steelpanPans are constructed by pounding the top of the oil drum into a bowl-like shape, known as "sinking" the drum. The drum is tempered over a fire until it is "white hot" and allowed to cool. Then the notes are laid out, shaped, grooved, and tuned with a variety of hammers and other tools. 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 3 bass notes per pan, in which case one person may play 6 such pans. The length of the skirt generally corresponds to the tessitura (high or low range) of the drum. The pans may either be painted or chromed.
The pan family
A tenor pan from TobagoThere are 11 instruments in the pan family:
Lead/Tenor (There are many variations of tenor pans: Spiderweb Lead(4ths and 5ths), 3rds and 5ths, Left Handed, etc...)
Invader Lead/Tenor
Double Tenors
Double Seconds
Double Guitars
Quadduet (Double Seconds with extensions)
Quadrophonic
Triple Guitars
Cellos (Three and Four Pan variations)
Tenor Bass
Six Bass
Nine Bass (up to 12 bass)
Famous pannists, composers and arrangers
Cliff Alexis
Ray Holman
Clive Bradley
Rudolph Charles
Leon "Smooth" Edwards
Robert Greenidge
Annise "Halfers" Hadeed
Ellie Mannette
Vernon "Birdie" Mannette
Victor "Babu" Samuel
Bruce "Fundoo" Bloodman
Aubrey "Lacu" Samuel
"Bobby" Mohammed
Aldon Moore
Andy Narell
Ken "Professor" Philmore
Yohan Popwell
Jit Samaroo
Len "Boogsie" Sharpe
Liam Teague
Jim "Boss" Wharton
John "The Wolf" Wolfe
Tom Miller
The future of pan
The world of steelpan is still thriving. Many ensembles have emerged in recent years which combine the steelpan with other styles of music and instruments not typically found in Caribbean music. As more artists begin including the instrument in various genres of music, it is likely that it will begin to be seen more as a versatile, general-purpose instrument than as a niche or novelty item.
The pan culture is encouraged in Trinidad and Tobago, and is included in parades on Carnival days, Emancipation day, and other celebrations. In addition, Caribbean immigrants to other countries often form community bands and youth bands, resulting in vibrant steelpan scenes in cities like New York, Toronto, Miami, and Washington, DC. Schools, colleges, and universities are another setting in which young people are introduced to the steelpan. A growing number of colleges and universities now have steelpan ensembles, where music students and non-majors alike often strike their first notes on the pan. Others participate in elementary, middle, or high school pan ensembles. It seems likely that the number of pan players will continue to grow, both in Caribbean cultures and around the world.
Upcoming pannists, arrangers and composers
Keisha Codrington
Atiba Williams
Mia Normandie
Vanessa Headley
Khion Delas
John Wolfe
Dave Longfellow
Garvin Blake
Barry Mannette
Chris Ozinga