Saturday, January 23, 2016

Bringing Out The Musician In You Through Steel Pan Music

By Joshua Reed


Music speaks to us at a deep level it translates the messages inside our hearts into flowing melody and rhythm. Because this music can take hold of another person or millions of ears and share the same feelings as the musician does. But music does not only play about feelings and emotions. It also represent the culture and race that one belongs to.

So you hit the library to do research but the music section does not help, and the librarian points you to the history section. A title catches your eye and it is about the musical history of Trinidad, and you realized that what you wanted to do was to play steel pan music. But there is more to the instrument than performing a great piece.

This instrument appeared during a time when French planters move to Trinidad during the 1789 French revolution, and with them came the slaves to work in their fields. Since the slaves could not participate in the local carnival festival they made their own version called canboulay. But by 1880 these were band due to the riots that emerge from these.

Not many did not play the steelpan because it was often associated with outlaws. But after many years of development it has slowly found its place among other instruments. Also there are many other types of steelpan that have been developed over the years.

Not only does it signify the cultural identity of developed by the former slaves of Trinidad. Today it is now part of the local music scene and has evolved from the Tamboo bamboos which is made from bamboo wood fashioned into a stick that can produce sounds and play tunes. Playing this required it to be hit on the ground, and produced sound when hit by other sticks.

When a steelpan becomes out of tune it is usually caused by too much force and mishandling by the user. Most bands always fine tune their instruments every year, but looking for the right tuner is crucial. Because the person needs to be good at arranging and making notes sound correct and good, and usually tuning is done with hammers.

In producing sounds the device have two commonly used playing techniques called the piston which simply make use of hands by giving it an up and down motion. The flick is similar to the piston except when the hand is near the surface the stick is wave at each side. Then the single stroke roll is used to prolong a tone and these are played quickly and evenly.

Shifting your weight includes bending the knees and sometimes leaning close to it during the music session. Never removed your hands from the inside the drum and always keep it close, so the best sound can be produced. The player should know how to hold the sticks by gripping it tightly or loosely, and knowing what kind of size the device is should be enough to know which method to choose.

While the body should be four to five inches away from the skirt of the steel pan. This allows the musician to lean or pivot during play and will also help them bend their knees a little especially when reaching for hard to reach notes. There are other kinds of pans available such as the mid range and background types where the same positioning are used but the difference here is that the body must be allowed to move and never touch the drum.




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