Welcome

The Caribbean steel pan is an intriguing instrument and the only acoustic instrument invented in the 20^th century, but there are still thousands of people that don’t know much about it or even know it exists.  The steel pan is more commonly known as the steel drum in the US.

The steel pan is an instrument that has been created out of a 50 gallon steel shipping barrel.  They are hammered down to specific shapes to get the desired note ranges for the different types of pans.  To this day, each pan is made by hand and can take hundreds of hours to complete a single pan.

Not a lot of information about the steel pan can be found on the Internet apart from people trying to sell pans or advertise a steel band.  Even though it was invented less than 100 years ago and came from a small island in the Caribbean, it has a rich history, and it’s a shame that more people don’t know about it. For anyone who is interested about the steel pan, this blog will give more information about: 

• What is a steel pan/steel band
• How they are made and maintained
• The history of the pan
• People that have influence the steel pan and its music

My name is Michael S.  As a kid, I was fascinated with the steel pan after the first time I saw it.  I have been playing percussion since I was 11 years old and always wanted to try to find a way to find and learn how to the steel pan.  I got lucky in 2003 when I was at Richland College when the music director there started a steel band program — I couldn’t join fast enough.  From that program, I came to learn some of the pan’s history and how they are made.  I still play today and am in the steel band at North Lake College.

I look forward to this experience, as it will be my first time writing a blog.  I look forward to teaching you more about this fascinating instrument as well as learning some new information myself in the process.  I hope that you enjoy.