Steel Pans-4

Steel Pans

Idiophones originally made from oil barrels/drums are called steel pans.  They originated from Trinidad and Tobago.   The pan is struck using a pair of straight sticks tipped with rubber (like a tick rubber band).  The pan is the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago, and steelpan musicians are called pannists.

The size of the pans vary from one pan to another.  The length of the skirt (shell or cylindrical part of the oil drum) generally corresponds to the pitch ranges of each pan.

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