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The Matanzas Steel pans were built and are maintained by Tony Cezair of Tropical Harmony in Daytona Beach, Florida Site Under Construction |
The birth of the steel drum is considered to be approximately 1938 after hundreds of years of musical evolution resulting from bans and restrictions placed on the Trinidadians by British and Spanish Colonial Rule, since Columbus's "discovery" of Trinidad in 1498. The first steel pan was an empty biscuit container. In 1939, Winston "Spree" Simon began playing melodies on the first tuned tins following the discovery that different pitches could be found when the can was hammered out from the inside. He is considered to be the inventor of convex (dome- shaped) tuned pans. Early steel pans made of paint tins or biscuit tins had only a handful of notes and had the ability to perform simple melodies. The desire for more complex melodies and a wider range of pitches led to the development of the modern shaped concave instrument, which had more room for notes and was easier to play. Pan music developed rapidly during the late 1930s, and by 1941 steel bands playing in Trinidad became popular among U.S. soldiers based on the naval bases on the island. Although Carnival was banned for the entire duration of the Second World War, steel bands playing in lower class neighborhoods flourished in this period. The war years gave people more time for acoustic experimentation with the emerging steel drum. In 1946, Ellie Manette created the first steel drum made from a steel 55 gallon oil drum. The oil industry and the US naval base made 55-gallon oil drums abundant in the island. Oil drums, which were cut and used as trashcans, eventually replaced the biscuit tins as the raw material for pan making. Pan music was generally associated with criminals and the lower class. The constant clashes between bands and the frequent inter-band rivalry, occasionally resulted in violence, helping to perpetuate this association. Raw materials to make steel drums were not free, and panmen generally had to steal materials from oil refineries and naval yards, all of which contributed to the bad reputation of these drummers. After the war, Carnival was re-instated, and with it the famous competitions between steel bands began. By the 1950s, steel pan music had gained enough popularity to be sent to the United Kingdom as part of the Commonwealth celebration as TASPO (Trindad All Star Steel Orchestra). As a result, the steel pan was strongly identified as an important element of Trinidadian culture. This also greatly enhanced the social "respectability" of the steel drum. TASPO helped to establish the international exposure and acceptability of the steel drum. During the 1960s, steel pan festivals and competitions were introduced in Trinidad. Steel bands even performed for Queen Elizabeth when she visited Trinidad. Steel pans played an important role during Trinidad's independence celebrations in 1962. Steel bands started to tour both the United States and the United Kingdom. On February 22, 1963, the first National Panorama competition was held in Trinidad. Through the 50 years following the Second World War the steel pan has been further developed by panmakers through sophisticated experimentation. This development, still in progress, has produced new refined crafting techniques. Modern steel bands have ten different drums, from tenor to the Nine Bass drums, which produce a tonal range of approximatley 5 octaves. Today, huge steel band orchestras are common in many Caribbean islands, but the Trinitarians are credited with having been the creators of the steel pan. As Charles de Ledesma and Simon Broughton comment in their essay about Trinidad: No longer the solely the domain of the Trinitarians, steel pans symbolize the culture of the English speaking Caribbean islands. They are played on many islands outside of Trinidad and Tobago as well as throughout the world.
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