Steel drum how does it work

When French planters arrived in Trinidad in the late s they brought with them a carnival tradition - and their slaves formed their own festival, fuelled by drum music. After emancipation in the celebrations became noisier and more colourful, though after disturbances in the British government tried to ban the performers' sticks and drums. What followed was the tamboo-bamboo - bamboo sticks cut for striking together and hammering against the ground.

Huggins-Watts is a rare thing. She is the only woman arranger to win the island's prestigious Panorama competition with her band, Valley Harps. It was a street instrument, it took a while to become respectable," she adds. The pans used by the Valley Harps are made from old chemical containers now, they are more readily available than oil drums.

By , Trinidad's new steel bands put forward their best players, including Betancourt, to join the Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra for the Festival of Britain. They weren't painted or chromed or anything - just dustbins," Betancourt says.

They said it was 'black magic'. The music has been keenly adopted by the pop world. The Hollies used the sound of the steel pan in their song Carrie Anne, Prince used it in his song New Position, and 70s jazz-fusion band Spyro Gyra incorporated the sound of steel in Morning Dance. It also sounds like holidays, and sunshine, which may explain some of its appeal. Read More.

By Victoria Davis August 27 th When you think of the steel drum, you might picture yourself relaxing on a tropical vacation. To make a steel drum, or a pan, the bottom of an oil drum is first pounded into a bowl, then shaped and tuned with hammers to form distinct resonating surfaces. Steel bands are stylistically versatile, but the most common steel band conventions of melodic phrasing and rhythmic structure are related to Calypso music.

While the first steel bands included instruments such as soap boxes, biscuit tins, and dustbins, modern steel bands include vibraphones , cow bells, congas , bongos , triangles and other percussion instruments. Drums are made in families: bass pans, rhythm pans, and tenor pans. A steelpan player on High Street in Trinidad and Tobago. Photo by Shanel. CC by-SA 3. The steel band developed directly out of bamboo stamping tube ensembles , which provided carnival music for the lower-class in Port of Spain after a British colonial law restricted the use of drums with skin heads.

Membership in a band soon became interpreted as hooliganism signaling creole disdain for European norms. Manufacturing steel drums is a highly specialized skill. Pans are not standardized, as competition between rival bands fostered innovation in tuning and design. Popularity of the steel band has grown. They are now plentiful in Caribbean diaspora communities as well as non-Caribbean communities all over the world. While Trinidad and Tobago continues to be the center, countries like Sweden, Switzerland, and Japan are now hubs of steel band activity.

Do you have any other fun facts about the steel drum to add to our list? Subscribe to the OUPblog via email: Our Privacy Policy sets out how Oxford University Press handles your personal information, and your rights to object to your personal information being used for marketing to you or being processed as part of our business activities. Recent Comments. Steelpan 2 nd September Alison Roberts 2 nd July Teresa 26 th November Hameed shaqq 13 th December Jose Vicente 9 th June Otis 19 th March