Tuesday, January 26, 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.

The instrument originated from Tobago and Trinidad. Musicians referred to pannist because these were considered as percussion instruments. A pair of sticks with rubber tips are used to play the pan. And these were made out of drum gallons for oils and other substances.

Today these are made through molding it into a shape similar to a bowl with the aid of air pressure or hammers. Then on the surface note patterns are marked after which it is tempered and initial tuning happens. In this step the tuning of the drum is improved, and often uses a strobe tuner.

Notes differs depending on the size of the pitch. A lower tones are made through the larger oval while the higher tones with the smaller ones. Most pans are painted or in chrome while others are processed in powder coating, nickel plating, and hardening for the finish.

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.

Remember to keep the elbows at waist level and never raise nor bend it than 45 degrees. Notes resonate when the rubber tip of the stick glides over the drum and helps musicians play the instrument more precisely and faster. There are two types of hand movements for producing sound such as the flick and down up stroke. The flick starts at the top then is pulled down and is waved on the note.




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