OUR JOURNEY AND BACKGROUD ON PAN

Since the abolition of Slavery in the British West Indies especially in Trinidad more than two hundred years ago, the Steel Pan Instrument became the most influencial symbol of a people's expression of freedom and the Emancipation from Slavery.  In my view, the instrument is a unique and ground-breaking invention that symbolizes  a people's determination to express themselves by any means necessary. This strong determination is highlighted even, through their struggles, they stayed focus and attached to their culture and music.

The Steel Drum shows the transition between two different  kind of Drums; the Skin Drums and the Steel Drum;  the skin is one of Africa's oldest traditional , the steel drum is a modern day industrial artifact. The Steel Drum was created to transport chemicals  such as petroleum,  not to create a musical instrument.
 In terms of Musical  freedom of expression, the Steel Pan is an icon and should be hightlighted  by an act of parliament as a national symbols and emblem.
                    
The steel pan family of instruments presented a new orchestral expression in chamber and symphonic music and a new melodic instrument invented in 20th century.
It is also the only instrument configured in the circle of Fifths. The  PanTuners became the magical leaders. There were widespread independent experimentation culminated in the use of steel drums ie; Biscuit and Oil metal Drums, especially in the 1940s. One factor worthy of mention and which led to the invention was the access to the metal barrels. The petroluem industry to its credit used their resources to encouraged the exclusive use of metal drums for the transportation of Crude Oil fromTrinidad, subsequently elminating the use of the wooden barrels. Then, when emptied these discarded steel drums became the main component in constructing the Steelpan instrument. This method of recycling was unheard of at the Time.  These Steelpan Pioneers began this musical journey to enculture the world of music and a new Idaphone was added to the world of musical instruments, simply called a "Pan".   


 Each steel pan is fashioned from a steel drum whose surface has been sunk into a concave shape and divided into concentric rings of notes. The note surfaces are lightly struck with rubber-tipped mallets to produce the sound. Depending on the range of notes it produces, the steel-drum instrument can consist of a single drum (the soprano pan) or as many a six to twelve drums (the bass pans). The various steel pans cover the entire range of musical voices: soprano, alto, tenor, bass. Played together, they constitute a steel band. Among the pioneers of steel pan, Ellie Mannette is generally credited with the creation of the alto steel pan, consisting of two drums, while Anthony Williams is known for the creation of the spider-web pattern of the original Tenor pan, this led to the development of the Soprano voice in the cycle of of fifths. 



It is said, Pythagoras the Father of Mathematics from the 6th century BC, calculated or made popular the musical theories; namely the Cycle of fifths.  The only musical Instrument made in this circular configuration is from a steel drum. The Sopranos is the only musical instrument ever constructed to follow this configuration in the practical cycle of 4th and 5th intervals. In general, the most important factor about this invention is, it forms and meet the criteria of the Symphonic Orchestra on its own. Traditionally, other musical instruments usually, must be in a combination to facilitate the symphony orchestral written music.  These musical combination of instruments such as Woodwinds, Brass, Strings for centuries defined and was faithful to the establish Symphonic instrumentation of any type classical music. Evidently, the orchestra grew by accretion throughout the eighteenth and 19th centuries, but changed very little in composition during the course of the 20th century.  With this history in mind, only the Steelpan family of instruments and without the traditional musical instruments, can perform any Orchestral Chamber music written by great Composers; Mozart, Chopin and others. Only a Steelband can be classified as an Orchestral Idaphone Symphony.

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