When was steel drums invented

She is the only woman arranger to win the island's prestigious Panorama competition with her band, Valley Harps. It was a street instrument, it took a while to become respectable," she adds. The pans used by the Valley Harps are made from old chemical containers now, they are more readily available than oil drums. By , Trinidad's new steel bands put forward their best players, including Betancourt, to join the Trinidad All Steel Percussion Orchestra for the Festival of Britain.

They weren't painted or chromed or anything - just dustbins," Betancourt says. They said it was 'black magic'. The music has been keenly adopted by the pop world. The Hollies used the sound of the steel pan in their song Carrie Anne, Prince used it in his song New Position, and 70s jazz-fusion band Spyro Gyra incorporated the sound of steel in Morning Dance.

It also sounds like holidays, and sunshine, which may explain some of its appeal. Several innovators throughout steel pan history have made significant contributions to the development of the instrument. Despite the achievements and hard work of the innovators, modern day steel pans still have a few limitations. Steel pan is a work in progress. Pan makers around the world are constantly investigating ways to improve and refine the instrument. The instruments and their creators were looked down on by the upper class of Trinidad society because they were made and played by persons from the ghettos.

Also, criminal elements had an unfortunate love of steel band music. Performances of rival bands often ended in violence and steel pans were considered the instruments of hooligans! This is what these instruments look like:. During the 's biscuit tins beaten with bare sticks were included as rhythm instruments in the Tamboo Bamboo bands.

However, because of fights between rival gangs, the Tamboo Bamboo bands were forbidden. This led to street bands being comprised exclusively of steel instruments such as tin pans, biscuit drums, dustbins and other items such as brake drums and spoons! These bands were often referred to as "Iron Bands" or " Pan Bands". With Carnival being forbidden during World War II for security reasons,the earliest steel pan pioneers had more time to experiment with and improve on the quality of sound from their steel instruments.

The very first steel drums with pitches notes were made from smaller metal containers and were convex in shape. The first steel drum with the 12 notes of the Chromatic Scale was developed. The former convex shape of the steel drums had also been changed to a concave shape to accommodate more notes. The notes were formed with convex shaped dents. Rubber was also wrapped around the pan sticks mallets to make its sound more mellow. Ellie Mannette has been credited with these specific improvements and he is thus widely regarded as the father of the modern steel drum steel pan.