Steel Drums Dance Company -
African Music, Instrumental, Function Band and Party
Band - National based Band
It gives us great pleasure to welcome you to the
Steel Drums Dance Company. Allow us to take you on a
tour from Africa to Trinidad & Tobago and back to
Africa.
Steel pan, also known as steel drum is a pitched
percussion musical instrument originating in
Trinidad and Tobago. In fact, drum refers to the 50
litre oil drum containers from which the pans are
made. The steel drum is correctly called a steel
pan.
The steelpan may have first come from Trinidad but
its true roots lie in Africa since it was created to
replace traditional African drums like the Jembe.
Steel Drums Dance Company
When Africans were forcefully enslaved and taken to
Trinidad and Tobago to work on sugar plantations,
they weren't allowed to take their drums with them.
This presented a problem because to Africans, music
and drumming was, and still is a huge part of our
culture. As a result, other objects became used as
percussion instruments and the first widely
available resource were biscuit tins.
Steel Drums Dance Company
One regular day in the 1940's a man was playing in a
percussion street band. His instrument was a large
tin and a stick with which he beat a low bass
rhythm. As he played, he beat the level bottom of
the tin in and stretched the metal thinner and
tighter. He soon lost his bass note and found
himself playing way too high pitched a note. This
was not what he wanted and he bashed the bottom back
out with a rock.
Steel Drums Dance Company
He was very surprised to find that there were now
three different notes that he could play on one
surface. His idea became very popular and as
interest grew the people moved onto using oil drums
instead of tins. Thanks to this, we now have
instruments made out of oil drums that have the full
range and versatility of a concert band.
The Steel Drums Dance Company has brought the pan
back to Africa, playing African tunes mixed with
Caribbean sounds.
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Steel Drums Dance Company -
African Music, Instrumental, Function Band and Party
Band - National based Band
