Steel pan

Other names	Steel drum, pan
Classification	Percussion instrument Idiophone
Playing range
G1–F6

Steelpans (also known as steel drums or pans, and sometimes, collectively with other musicians, as a steel band or orchestra) is a musical instrument originating from The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. Steel pan musicians are called pannists.

Description[link]

The modern pan is a chromatically pitched percussion instrument (although some toy or novelty steelpans are tuned diatonically, and some older style round the neck instruments have even fewer notes), made from 55 gallon drums that formerly contained oil and like substances.

Drum refers to the steel drum containers from which the pans are made; the steeldrum is more correctly called a steel pan or pan as it falls into the idiophone family of instruments, and so is not a drum which is a membranophone.

The pan is struck using a pair of straight sticks tipped with rubber; the size and type of rubber tip varies according to the class of pan being played. Some musicians use four pansticks, holding two in each hand.^[1] This skill and performance has been conclusively shown to have grown out of Trinidad and Tobago's early 20th century Carnival percussion groups known as Tamboo Bamboo. The pan is the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago. Since Pythagoras calculated the formula for the musical cycle of fourths and fifths, Steel Pans are the only instruments made to follow this configuration.

Origins[link]

French planters and their slaves emigrated to Trinidad during the French Revolution (1789) from Martinique, including a number of West Africans, and French creoles from Saint Vincent, Grenada, Saint Lucia and Dominica, establishing a local community before Trinidad and Tobago were taken from Spain by the British. Carnival had arrived with the French, and the slaves, who could not take part in Carnival, formed their own, parallel celebration called canboulay.

Stick fighting and African percussion music were banned in 1880, in response to the Canboulay Riots. They were replaced by bamboo sticks beaten together, which were themselves banned in turn. In 1937 they reappeared, transformed as an orchestra of frying pans, dustbin lids and oil drums. These steelpans are now a major part of the Trinidadian music scene and are a popular section of the Canboulay music contests. In 1941, the United States Navy arrived on Trinidad, and the panmen, who were associated with lawlessness and violence, helped to popularize steel pan music among soldiers, which began its international popularization.

The first instruments developed in the evolution of steelpan were Tamboo-Bamboos, tunable sticks made of bamboo wood. These were hit onto the ground and with other sticks in order to produce sound.^[2] Tamboo-Bamboo bands also included percussion of a (gin) bottle and spoon. By the mid-1930s, bits of metal percussion were being used in the tamboo bamboo bands, the first probably being either the automobile brake hub "iron" or the biscuit drum "boom". The former replaced the gin bottle-and-spoon, and the latter the "bass" bamboo that was pounded on the ground. By the late 1930s their occasional all-steel bands were seen at Carnival and by 1940 it had become the preferred Carnival accompaniment of young underprivileged men. The 55-gallon oil drum was used to make steelpans from around 1947. The Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra (TASPO), formed to attend the Festival of Britain in 1951, was the first steelband whose instruments were all made from oil drums. Members of TASPO included Ellie Mannette and Winston "Spree" Simon. Hugh Borde also led the National Steel Band of Trinidad & Tobago at the Commonwealth Arts Festival in England, as well as the Esso Tripoli Steel Band, who played at the World’s Fair in Montreal, Canada, and later toured with Liberace and were also featured on an album with him.^[3]

Construction[link]

Steelpans are built using sheet metal with a thickness between 0.8 mm and 1.5 mm. Traditionally, steelpans have been built from used oil barrels. Nowadays, many instrument makers do not rely on used steel containers and get the resonance bodies manufactured according to their preferences and technical specifications. In a first step, the sheet metal is stretched into a bowl shape (this is commonly known as 'sinking'). This process is usually done with hammers, manually or with the help of air pressure. The note pattern is then marked onto the surface, and the notes of different sizes are shaped and molded into the surface. After the tempering, the notes have to be softened and tuned (initial tuning). The softening is part of this initial tuning process. The technician will use the best possible tuning device to get the right notes for each of the playing areas and to the pitch that is wanted. Often they will use an electronic tuner called a strobe tuner to assist the tuning of the steelpan.

The note's size corresponds to the pitch—the larger the oval, the lower the tone.^[4] The size of the instrument varies from one pan to another. It may have almost all of the "skirt" (the cylindrical part of the oil drum) cut off and around 30 soprano-range notes. It may use the entire drum with only three bass notes per pan, in which case one person may play six such pans. The length of the skirt generally corresponds to the tessitura (high or low range) of the drum. The pans are usually either painted or chromed. Other processes such as nickel plating, powdercoating or hardening can also be applied as a finish.

Despite being a relatively new member of the percussion family, steelpan tuning techniques have advanced rapidly. Because of the short "voice" of the pan, needle/LED display type tuners cannot track the signal to identify a tone. Strobe tuners are real-time tuners, ideally suited for the task. The need to see the first few overtones further makes a strobe tuner a necessity for steelpan tuning. Steelpan makers have used strobe tuners since it was discovered that, by adjusting the overtones (1st (fundamental), 2nd and third partial), the pan's sound seemed to sparkle in a way that it did not previously.

There are several ways in which a steelpan may become out of tune (most commonly this is caused by playing the steelpan with excessive force and incorrect handling) and it is quite common that steelbands arrange to have their instruments tuned once or twice a year. A tuner must have great skill in his/her work to manage to make the notes sound both good and at the correct pitch. Much of the tuning work is performed using hammers.

Evolution and developments[link]

Anthony Williams designed the "Fourths and Fifths" arrangement of notes, known as the cycle of fifths. This has become the standard form of note placement for lead pans. Other important developments include the tuning of harmonic overtones in individual notes, developed simultaneously and independently by Bertie Marshall and Alan Gervais.^{[citation needed]}

The Caribbean Research Institute CARIRI investigated possibilities to mass produce raw forms with the use of pressing machines in the 1970s. Much of this project took place in Sweden in collaboration with the Saab Company. Although first results were promising, the project has been abandoned due to lack of finances and support by local pan tuners in Trinidad. Another method of shaping the pan was attempted: by spinning. The pan was spun on a lathe-like device, and a roller on the end of a bar was used to sink the pan. While this did create pre sunk pans, a problem was that there would often be scratches and grooves in the steel.

Since the steel is stretched pretty thin, any scratch will expand and can crack. Often drums have lettering embossed into the bottom. If done carefully, these can sometimes be stretched without breaking, but cracks around lettering on some drums is common. To avoid this problem, makers position the inner notes to avoid most of the letters. Brazing over the holes and grinding, will often fix the problems, without damaging the sound, but it has to be done nearly at the end of the sinking process, and well before any final shaping.

A Swiss steel pan manufacturer (PANArt) researched the field of fine-grain sheet steel and developed a deep drawn raw form which was additionally hardened by nitriding. This process, and the instruments they called Pang, were presented at the International Conference of Steel pan and Science in Port-of-Spain in 2000.^[5]

Electronic steel pans have also been developed. One such version is the E-Pan,^[6] invented by Salmon Cupid, who holds utility patents for it.^[7] Another is the Percussive Harmonic Instrument (PHI),^[8]

The pan family[link]

Tuning a steelpan with a strobe tuner - Herman Guppy

There are many different instruments and variations making up the family of steelband instruments.

In the beginning of the steelband movement, players would play a single pan only, now commonly called Around the neck instruments. Later on, some steelpans became chromatic by using multiple pans, particularly for the bass registers which have fewer notes per pan owing to the larger sizes of the lower note areas. Following are some of the most popular instruments:

Music and competitions[link]

A musician playing the double tenor steelpan

The repertoire of the steelband is extensive. Steelbands in Trinidad have a tradition of re-interpreting the current year's calypsos for Carnival performance; rarely will a calypso from a previous year be heard at Carnival or Panorama. Bands that perform all year round (both in Trinidad and in the so-called 'pan diaspora') have long prided themselves on being able to perform many types of music, particularly Latin and jazz numbers, film music and other popular tunes. Pan-men also have a tradition of performing classical music on pan which dates back to 1946, both in calypso tempo (known as "The Bomb") and straight (generally in concert or music festival contexts). In these contexts, accuracy and faithfulness to the original are highly prized.^[12] While many American and British audiences demand to hear Harry Belafonte songs on pan, these are generally inauthentic to the Trinidadian tradition.

For many years now there have been attempts to use the steelpan in various contexts other than those with which it is stereotypically associated. The first known use of steelband in a theatrical performance (outside of Trinidad and Tobago) was in Harold Arlen's 1954 Broadway musical The House of Flowers, in which Enid Mosier's Trinidad Steel Band performed in several songs.^[13] British composer Daphne Oram was the first composer to electronically manipulate the sound of the steelpan after recording a band (probably Russell Henderson's Steelband) in 1960.^[14] The first use of pan in a commercial pop record was by The Hollies in 1967 with "Carrie Anne".^[15]

An international festival, the World Steelband Music Festival, has been held intermittently in Trinidad since 1964, where steelbands perform in a concert-style ambiance a test piece (sometimes specially composed, or a selected calypso) a piece of choice (very often a "classic" or European art-music work) and calypso of choice.^[16] Panorama, the largest steelband contest in the world, occurs during Carnival celebrations in Trinidad.

Steelpans were introduced to the genre of Jazz Fusion by players such as Dave Samuels and Othello Molineaux in the 1980s, and Jonathan Scales in the 2000s. The sound of the steelpans adds a pleasant and accessible sound to an otherwise complex musical style. They are featured in the early fusion album Morning Dance by Spyro Gyra.

Selected publications and further reading[link]

• Aho, William R. "Steel Band Music in Trinidad and Tobago: The Creation of a People's Music", Latin American Music Review 8 (1): 26-56, 1987.
• Blake, Felix I. R. The Trinidad and Tobago Steel Pan: History and Evolution. ISBN 0-9525528-0-9
• Dudley, Shannon K. "Judging 'By the beat': Calypso versus soca", Ethnomusicology 40 (2): 269-98, 1996.
• Dudley, Shannon K. Making music for the Nation: Competing identities and Esthetics in Trinidad and Tobago's Panorama Steelband Competition. PhD dissertation; University of California Berkley, 353pp., 1997.
• Dudley, Shannon K. "Dropping the Bomb: Steelband Performance and Meaning in 1960's Trinidad", Ethnomusicology 46 (1): 135-64, 2002.
• Grant, Cy. Ring of Steel - Pan Sound and Symbol. Macmillan Education, London, 1999. ISBN 0-333-66128-1
• Helmlinger, Aurélie. Geste individuel, mémoire collective: Le jeu du pan dans les steelbands de Trinidad et Tobago, Cahiers de musiques traditionnelles 14 : 181-202, 2001.
• Helmlinger, Aurélie. Mémoire et jeu d’ensemble ; La mémorisation du répertoire dans les steelbands de Trinidad et Tobago. PhD dissertation; Université Paris X Nanterre, Paris, 2005.
• Helmlinger, Aurélie. "The influence of the group for the memorization of repertoire in Trinidad and Tobago steelbands". 9th International Conference on Musical Perception and Cognition proceedings, ed. by M. Baroni, A.R. Addessi, R. Caterina, M. Costa, Bologna, 2006.
• Helmlinger, Aurélie. Les steelbands de Trinidad et Tobago : Ethnomusicologie cognitive d’une mémoire d’orchestre, In Intellectica 48 (1) : 81-101, 2008.
• Helmlinger, Aurélie. Mémoriser à plusieurs. Expérience sur l’effet du groupe dans les steelbands (Trinidad et Tobago). Memorizing together. Group effect experiments in steelbands (Trinidad and Tobago). Annales Fyssen 24 : 216-235, 2010.
• Helmlinger, Aurélie. La virtuosité comme arme de guerre psychologique, Ateliers d'anthropologie, 35, 2011.
• Kronman, Ulf. Steel Pan Tuning - a Handbook for Steel Pan Making and Tuning. Part of the series, Musikmuseets skrifter, 1992. ISSN 0282-8952
• Manuel, Peter. Caribbean Currents: Caribbean Music from Rumba to Reggae, 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2006. ISBN 1-59213-463-7
• Seeger, P. Steel drums - how to play them and make them, Oak. Publ. New York, 1964.
• Stuempfle, Stephen. The steelband movement. The forging of a national art in Trinidad and Tobago, University of Pennsylvania Press, 287 pp., 1995.
• Thomas, Jeffrey. Forty Years of Steel: An Annotated Discography of Steelband and Pan Recordings, 1951-1991. Connecticut, USA: Greenwood Press, 1992.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Steelpan

• Pan Jumbie
• Steel Bands 4u - A Directory of steel bands

in French:

• Steelbands en France

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2009)

Machel Montano
Machel Montano performing in 2007
Background information
Also known as	Lyrics Machel
Born	(1974-11-24) 24 November 1974 (age 37) Carenage, Trinidad and Tobago
Origin	Couva, Trinidad and Tobago
Genres	Soca
Occupations	Musician, producer, Song-writer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, keyboards, percussion
Years active	1982–present
Associated acts	Xtatik, Destra Garcia, Farmer Nappy, Patrice Roberts, Zan
Website	www.machelmontano.com

Machel Montano (born 24 November 1974, Trinidad and Tobago)^[1] is a soca singer, record producer and songwriter based in Trinidad and Tobago.

He is the frontman of the popular soca band The HD Family, and is noted for his high energy, fast-paced, and often unpredictable on-stage performances. During his career, which spans over 30 years, he has recorded several songs alongside many of Caribbean music's most popular acts, such as Lerone Guy of St Anthonys College, Alison Hinds, Beenie Man, Calypso Rose, Burning Flames, Drupatee, Wyclef Jean, Canibus, Red Rat, Shaggy, Sparrow, Denise Belfon, Ken Marlon Charles (KMC), Destra, Walker Hornung, Vybz Kartel, Mohombi, G-Unit, Black Stalin, David Rudder, Buju Banton, Mr. Vegas, Doug E. Fresh, Pitbull and many others. In 1987 he was the youngest finalist to ever win the Caribbean Song Festival. He now stands as one of the most well-known soca acts in the world, using his leverage as an artist able to sell-out shows. Recently he has moved to the Los Angeles area and furthered his pursuit saying "I may not be the one to bring it forth, but in the meantime, I have a lot of work to do in order for something to happen". He is very well known in New York and has had sold out concerts in Madison Square Gardens many times over.^[2]

Early career[link]

Born in Carenage (West Trinidad), his family moved to Siparia, South Trinidad when he was very young. Machel attended Siparia Boys' R.C., then Presentation College, San Fernando, a prestigious secondary school in San Fernando, South Trinidad where he was in the choir led by Mrs. Cynthia Lee-Mack. Machel first shot to fame as a 9 year-old boy with the song "Too Young To Soca" while he was still in primary school. In 1984, along with his older brother Marcus and neighbours the group Pranasonic Express was started and in 1989, the band became Xtatik.

Machel is father to three children. Nicholas(13) his son, Melanie (12) and Malaya Journey (11), his daughters.

Machel Montano HD - his concepts[link]

Machel (center) performing on stage alongside Zan (left) and Farmer Nappy (right)

The band developed and was re-invented by its leader Montano several times as Xtatik 5.0, The Xtatik Circus, Xtatik The Road Marching Band, The Band of the Year and many others. Every year Machel has a battle in Zen to keep his band and his performances fresh. From 2007 they are known as Machel Montano HD (High Definition) and he promotes the concept by saying that he is the first human being to go HD. He claims this is a representation of the evolution of his music over the last 25 years and highly improved style in which his music shall be presented to his fans over radio formats, television, and during live performances. He is part of a campaign in Trinidad and Tobago to promoting safe driving - "Arrive Alive". Part of the hype surrounding Montano since 2007 is his HD tour bus, a 20-year-old bus from the Public Transport Service Corporation (PTSC) which was re-done and includes a bedroom, bathroom facilities, flat screen TVs, Internet access and expansive audio systems. After the bus' debut in 2007, it was re-painted for 2008, the new images of Machel matching various photos of him from the album artwork of his 2008 CD, Flame on. The bus featured heavily in his videos for "Jumbie" - 2007 and "Rollin/Blazin d Trail" - 2008. In 2012 Macheal Montano won the Road March, Power Soca Monarch and the Groovy Soca Monarch. He won the acclaimed the Road March with his song "Pump yuh Flag" and he won the Groovy Soca Monarch with his rendition "Mr.Fete". THe singer recently launced the music video to his hit single "Bottle Of Rum" in May,2012.

Machel Montano performing at a fete at Brian Lara's house in Barbados (2008)

Xtatik's music[link]

In the last few years the band has risen to a new level of musicality as each performance is very tight musically and has foreign influences such as Ernesto Luis Gutirrez, its Venezuelan percussionist, Shawn Mitchell, bassist from Grenada and musicians from Barbados. Kernal Roberts, the son of the late Lord Kitchener (calypsonian) has picked up the role as Xtatik's drummer and musical director and has brought new life to the band.

Montano was also instrumental in the promotion of soca music in the United Kingdom on the British Broadcasting Corporations' black music digital radio station 1Xtra, where he co-presented the International Sounds of Soca show for four years with DJ Slic. He has released many successful singles, with and without Xtatik, during his career, such as "Big Truck" (Xtatik's most successful single, which won the Road March title in 1997), "Outa Space" (with Beenie Man), "Music Farm" (Xtatik), "It's Carnival" (with Destra), and his most recent back to back Road March title wins for 2006, "Band Of The Year" (with Patrice Roberts) and 2007, "Jumbie".

His 2008 album Flame On, was released in February 2008 and featured collaborations with some of the most esteemed artistes in calypso such as David Rudder on "Oil and Music" and The Mighty Sparrow on "Congo Man". These two collaborations were well-received all around, especially "Congo Man".

Flame On also includes collaborations with other well-known artistes from various genres including soca, reggae, rap and reggaeton. Examples of these partnerships can be heard on the following tracks: Patrice Roberts on "Rollin", Shaggy on "Wining Season", Buju Banton on "Make Love" and finally Lil Jon and Pitbull on "Defense (The Anthem)".

Flame On displays the very strong relationship between Machel Montano and Kernal Roberts, his right-hand man. Roberts was involved in the writing of eight out the 13 tracks on the album.

In Trinidad's Carnival Road March Competition for Carnival 2008, Montano's song "Blazin d Trail" placed third even though it was a crowd favourite^{[citation needed]} when it was played at Carnival fetes during the Carnival season of 2008.

In 2011, Machel won the International Soca Monarch competition defeating the likes of Iwer George (2nd) and Bunji Garlin (3rd) after a fierce night of competition. In the end, Machel walked away with the TT$2 million dollar prize and the first International Soca Monarch title of his career. He then went on to win the Carnival Road March title with the same hit 'Advantage' by a landslide victory.

In 2012,Machel once again won the International Power Soca Monarch with the song "Pump Yuh Flag" beating Iwer George (2nd) Who sang a rendition of the song he did last year. Destra Garcia finished(3rd). Montano once again received the TT$2 million dollar prize and title. Also he entered the Groovy Soca Monarch and was victorious beating out reigning Groovy Soca Monarch King Kes Diffenthaller and crowd favorite Kerwin Du Bois (2nd). Topping off the Carnival Season In Trinidad & Tobago, he Won the Road March Title(Pump Yuh Flag-Played 233 Times) Beating Fay-ann Lyons(96) & Iwer George(84). Montano's last two years have been the most successful of his career and most attribute it to his strong work ethic, relationship with current manager, James Walton and mother Liz Montano.

Discography[link]

Patrice Roberts (left) and Machel perform at UWI Splash in Chaguaramas, Trinidad.

Machel and his band perform in front of a live audience at a fete

Solo albums[link]

• Too Young to Soca? (1986)
• Soca Earthquake (1987)
• Dr. Carnival (1988)
• Katch Ya! (1989)
• Breakin Out! (1990)
• One Step Ahead! (1991)
• 2000 Young To Soca (2000 Re-Edition)
• The Xtatik Experience (2005)
• B.O.D.Y. (2006)
• The Book of Angels (2007)
• Flame on, released as Wining Season in the United States (2008)
• Heavenly Drum (2009)
• Album 34 (2010)
• The Return (2011)

Xtatik albums[link]

• X Amount Ah Sweetnesss (1992)
• Soca Style Hot (1993)
• By All Means (1994)
• Loose Yuh Waist (1995)
• Men At Work (1996)
• Heavy Duty (1997)
• Xtatik Live (1997)
• Charge (1998)
• Any Minute Now (1999)
• Here Comes the Band (2000)
• Same High (2001)
• On the Cusp (2002)
• The Xtatik Circus (2003- as "Xtatik Band 5.0")
• The Xtatik Parade (2004)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Xtatik
• Answers.com biography on Machel Montano
• BET J to air Machel Montano Trinidad & Tobago special - Saturday, March 24, 2007: CaribbeanNetNews

	Book: Machel Montano
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

Robert Greenidge (* 28 April 1950 in Success Village, Laventille, Trinidad) is a steelpan player in the United States and a member of popular music singer Jimmy Buffett's Coral Reefer Band and the instrumental group Club Trini.

Career[link]

Greenidge began performing as a pannist at age eight and performed internationally beginning in his teens. He represented Trinidad and Tobago as a soloist and a member of Trinidad and Tobago National Steel Orchestra in 1970 and in 1971 migrated to the United States where he studied and played music.^{[citation needed]}

In the 1970s, he performed with numerous well-established acts such as Maurice White, Earth Wind and Fire, Harry Nilsson, John Lennon, and Ringo Starr. He continued to work in his native country and has played^[update] the Trinidad and Tobago Carnival every year since 1979. He won the national steelband competition Panorama twice with the Desperadoes Steel Orchestra in 1991 and 1994, both times with his own compositions.

In 1982. He recorded with JJ Cale on Grasshopper.

From 1978-83, he played and toured with blues singer Taj Mahal. In 1983, Greenidge played on Jimmy Buffett's One Particular Harbour and has performed and recorded with the Buffett and the Coral Reefer Band ever since^[update].

In 1986, Greenidge released his own album, Mad Music, with fellow Coral Reefer Michael Utley. He has continued to record with Utley as Club Trini.

Select discography[link]

• Mad Music — Robert Greenidge and Michael Utley (1986; MCA)
• Jubliee — Robert Greenidge and Michael Utley (1987; MCA 42045)
• Heat — Robert Greenidge and Michael Utley (1988; MCA)
• Margaritaville Cafe: Late Night Menu — Various Performers (1993; Margaritaville)
• Caribbean Paradise — Dennis Desouza (1994; Wirl)
• It's Christmas Mon! Steel Pan Music Christmas — Robert Greenidge (1995; Intersound 3529)
• Club Trini — Greenidge/Utley - Club Trini (1996; Margaritaville 531041)
• Back in Town — Greenidge/Utley - Club Trini (1999; Club Trini Records)
• Margaritaville Cafe: Late Night Live — Club Trini (2000)
• From the Heart — Greenidge/Utley — Club Trini (2003)

See also[link]

• Coral Reefer Band

References[link]

• Biography at RobertGreenidge.com

External links[link]

• Official website
• Club Trini website