Steel Drums of Trinidad
Steel Drums are popular in the Southern Caribbean, particularly Trinidad & Tobago. Traditionally made from cut-off 55 gallon oil drums beaten into separate tuned areas, the band consists of Tenor (lead), second, mid-range and bass pans. This is one of the most recently invented instrument. The Steel Drum carries the full chromatic range of notes, and can produce just about any type of music you can think of!
The drums evolved out of earlier musical practices of Trinidad. Drumming was used as a form of communication among the enslaved Africans and was subsequently outlawed by the British colonial government in 1783.
Winston “Spree” Simon was the first to produce tuned notes from a steel drum. His version was a dome shaped, convex surface instead of the bowl shaped concave surface that became popular. But, it was Ellie Mannette that responsible for the modern version, and for the spread of the steel drum.
Ellie Mannette is still alive today. Even at age 82, he continues to tinker with the instrument that he perfected. The steel drum has come a long way from banging a bamboo stick on the ground to announce a gang.
I chose Steel Drums because I really enjoy this kind of music. When I first heard this music,The Shake,Shake, Shake, Senora song came to mind. This steel drums clipping is the Little Mermaid, I love it. I enjoy it too, because it makes me very happy and it is just great music.
Cited:
http://www.hobgoblin-usa.com/info/glossary.htm
http://calypso-music.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_history_of_the_steel_drum#ixzz0XTjZcokD
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steel_drums#
November 22, 2009 at 12:12 am
Awesome! I have fond memories of watching Exodus at their panyard in Tunapuna, Trinidad. I have a Mannette drum – a tenor (his team makes them in the US in West Virginia). In this video they are practicing for the big yearly steel drum competition that is part of the multifaceted Carnival in Trinidad. Exodus is a 120 piece band. The wave of sound is amazing.
November 25, 2009 at 5:30 am
What a fun choice! There’s just something contagious about the sound of these drums. I watched a show once that showed how they make these drums and its just amazing the different notes they can achieve. While I was listening to some of the songs it was hard to believe all that was achieved with drums. The songs have the fullness of a multi instrument orchestra. I love the Shake Senora song, it always makes me think of the Beetlejuice movie. You provided some great information on the history of the drums. Good job on the post, of course now I can’t stop thinking of fruity drinks and tropical beaches!
March 6, 2010 at 1:39 am
I enjoyed your extremely well written blog on Steel Drums of Trinidad. You did an excellent job of relating the history of the instrument and explaining how the drum is tuned. I was not aware that Winston Simon produced the first tuned notes nor did I know that Ellie Mannette perfected the instrument. Isn’t it amazing that an instrument with so many complex sounds could made from a discarded oil drum? Certainly demonstrates the ingenuity of the human spirit. Thank you for the opportunity to learn more about a form of music I have appreciated for many years. I especially love to hear it performed by street musicians in tropical locations.