Trinidad and Tobago
Skilled Craftsman

Metal, wood
ca. 1990s
Drum diameter: 22.75 in; skirt 7.5 in
Stand height: 40.5 in; Width: 27 in
Idiophones – Struck Directly – Steelpan

This handmade lead tenor ‘steel pan’ is an idiophone instrument with a sustained bell-like timbre made from a 55 gallon industrial barrel/drum.  In 1992 it was officially made the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago, although the indigenous people considered it their nation instrument around 1947, when they began making these instruments.

The steelpan is an evolution of the tamboo bamboos, tunable bamboo wood tubes/sticks (also found in this collection) played by hitting the ends of the tubes onto the ground and using sticks to strike the side.  The term ‘tamboo’ is derived from the world ‘tambor,’ meaning drum.  The first steelpans were suspended around the players’ necks.   

The construction of an individual pan is complex, and the building and tuning of a pan requires great skill and perseverance. The builder (who originally was also the player) cuts off the top of the steel drum and keeps the length of the side (the “skirt”) consistent with the range of the instrument (for example, a lead pan, sometimes called “ping pong,” has a short skirt, and a bass pan has a full skirt made from the full length of the barrel).  The builder tunes the remaining end by heating and hammering (“sinking”) it, an elaborate process which includes converting the playing head into a concave depression with convex impressions (rounded bumps) for notes. Because of the acoustical properties of the hammered metal surface, pitches are not ordered chromatically, but are disjunct, creating a distinctive arrangement or pattern which is unique for each instrument.

Today, pans are divided into sections determined by their range and role (function) within the ensemble: Melody; Strumming; Bass   This pan is played with straight sticks tipped with rubber and has a custom wooden built stand.