Steel Pan

Steel Pan

Movable Cultural Heritage

Following emancipation in 1834, former slaves were allowed to participate in the Trinidad Carnival, however African-descended percussive performance was heavily targeted by restrictive government bills which banned many common percussive instruments (Google 2022). Having used improvisational instruments for years, by the 1930s Trinidadians experimented with a new improvisational instrument as they began to adapt oil drums to create the first steel pans. Trinidadians realised that the convex dent at the bottom of the oil drums would cause a sustained resonance when struck with a wooden “stick” or “beater”. They then experimented to tune these resonances to distinct musical pitches and could then produce recognisable melodies. The process is laborious but tedious, as the metal is heated and hammered into place, but also tuned with more precise, delicate hammering. Google 2022. The Origins of Steel Pan Notting Hill Carnival. Accessed 2022. https://artsandculture.google.com/story/the-origins-of-steel-pan-notting-hill-carnival/AAWBxQd4TKb21w?hl=en.

wordlheritage2022

30 March 2018

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04/30/2022 12:57:22 pm

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https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Collectie_Nationaal_Museum_van_Wereldculturen_TM-2586-1_Steel_drum_Trinidad.jpg

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Collectie_Nationaal_Museum_van_Wereldculturen_TM-2586-1_Steel_drum_Trinidad.jpg

https://www.tropenmuseum.nl/nl/over-het-tropenmuseum/stichting-nationaal-museum-van-wereldculturen

Nationaal Museum van Wereldculturen

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Following emancipation in 1834, former slaves were allowed to participate in the Trinidad Carnival, however African-descended percussive performance was heavily targeted by restrictive government bills which banned many common percussive instruments (Google 2022). Having used improvisational instruments for years, by the 1930s Trinidadians experimented with a new improvisational instrument as they began to adapt oil drums to create the first steel pans. Trinidadians realised that the convex dent at the bottom of the oil drums would cause a sustained resonance when struck with a wooden “stick” or “beater”. They then experimented to tune these resonances to distinct musical pitches and could then produce recognisable melodies. The process is laborious but tedious, as the metal is heated and hammered into place, but also tuned with more precise, delicate hammering. Google 2022. The Origins of Steel Pan Notting Hill Carnival. Accessed 2022. https://artsandculture.google.com/story/the-origins-of-steel-pan-notting-hill-carnival/AAWBxQd4TKb21w?hl=en.