Preface

When I first started to write this book three years ago, my intention

was to update Peter Seegers book about steel pan making from 1964. I

was trying to understand and learn how to tune steel pans as a part of

my research in the acoustics of the steel pan, and it seemed suitable to

document what I was learning. But, during my research project I

realized that the art of steel pan tuning has now reached a degree of

crafting refinement that makes it impossible to teach a novice how to

do it properly from a reading book only – if it ever was. In fact, I believe

that it would be easier to make a working violin from just reading a

handbook than to make a steel pan. Still, as a scientist I wanted to

document what I was learning and felt that a building description

could serve as a written guidance to the basics of steel pan making.

The main purpose of this handbook is thus not to teach novices how

to tune steel pans. The making and tuning of good steel pans is a

crafting art that must and should be taught practically by a skilled

panmaker. But the methods have hitherto been passed on completely

through oral tradition. Therefore, a handbook like this one can, seen as

a complementary aid, facilitate the teaching of pan making. The

documentation is also intended to serve as a basis for a discussion of

existing and emerging new tuning techniques.

The aim of this book is not to promote a standardization of the

crafting process. It is rather to present major steps of the process and

gather the tricks, specialities and results of some different methods so

we can have an open discussion of their usefulness. In this way the

community of panmakers can join the information society and start to

develop the steel pan instrument through the same methods as used

by manufacturers of high-tech instruments, such as pianos, violins,

saxophones, etc.

As a researcher in acoustics I want to bring my measurements and

theories to the skilled tuners to see if the marriage of practical crafting

knowledge and scientific theory can bring the steel pan further in its

evolution towards a matured instrument. The aim is to promote a

fruitful feedback between theory and practice – to try to make a

”reference work” both for skilled panmakers and newcomers in the

field.

You may argue that the panmakers have managed very well without

any theory or written documentation through the first fifty years of

the steel pan history. This is perfectly true, but the future development

of the instrument can be facilitated and speeded up by providing

written documentation and theories. This has been realised by individuals

and organisations in Trinidad. A paper from Pan Trinbago (the

national organisation for steel pan music in Trinidad & Tobago) from

1980 states the following about the need for technical research: ”Today,

however, there is a need to carry this development to a higher

plane and to marry the rich practical experience of the individual

panmaker with the theory of engineering science”.

I do not claim to be anyone who knows very much about steel pan

making and tuning. I don’t even know how to keep my own tenor pan

in tune, when it comes to practice. But, as I am eager to learn the

practical methods and have access to tools for measurements and

theoretical models, this book can be seen as a first step towards a

thorough documentation of the instrument and the tuning techniques.

The book is divided into four main parts:

III – a practical section with a brief description of the crafting

method.

III – a documentation of various inventions and trends for the future

development of pan.

III – a theoretical section with a discussion of the acoustical aspects

of the steel pan and a documentation of research results, gained

in projects during the years 1989 and 1990.

IV – appendices with data and measurements on some common

steel pan models and tools.

This handbook is intended to be published in a step-wise refined

procedure. This means that the first edition is to be revised when a

sufficient amount of new findings and data are at hand. Therefore, if

you find something that seems faulty or poorly described, please report

it to me to have it altered in the next edition. In this way the handbook

can serve as an evolving reference work for the art of steel pan making

and tuning in the future.

Stockholm, December 1991.

Ulf Kronman

Department of Speech Communication and Music Acoustics

Royal Institute of Technology (KTH)

Box 70014

S-100 44 STOCKHOLM

SWEDEN

Acknowledgments

During my research and the work with this manuscript, many people have contributed in various ways. I just want to mention a few persons who this work would have been impossible without: My mentor Krister Malm, my research supervisor Erik Jansson, the tuners Lawrence Mayers, Rudy Smith and Denzil Fernandez, steelband arranger Ray Holman, and all members of Hot Pans – Stockholm Steelband.

I also want to thank the crew who has helped me with the productionof the book: Bob McAllister for proof-reading, Elisabeth Gunnarsdotter, Linus Torell and Johan Larsson for helping me with the pictures, and Lars Lundbom for layout, typography and cover design.

The steelband

In the traditional Trinidad carnival steelband all the melodic and harmonic functions are held by steel pans – the only other instruments that participate are percussion instruments. A steelband can consist of up to 100 players, forming about ten to twelve different instrument groups, ranging from bass to soprano line, together covering a tonal range almost equal to a grand piano.The following is a list of the most common steel pan models, together with their usual tonal range and a suggestion for a ”tonal

A1 A2 A3 A4 A5 F6

Tenor

Double Tenor

Double Second

Quadrophonic Pan

Four Pans

Double Guitar

Triple Cello

Tenor Bass

Six Bass

Nine Bass

Graph of tonal ranges for the most common steel pan models. Total range of scale corresponding to that of a grand piano, less one octave at the bottom and 1.5 octave                              at the top.

Trinidad name Trinidad name "Range" name Tonal range No. of drums

Tenor                       Soprano                      D4 - F6                                    1                                                                          

Double tenor          Alto                              F3 - C6                                    2                                          

Double second     Tenor                          F#3 - B5                                    2                                 

Quadrophonic pan                                    B2 - Bb5                                   4                                     

Four pan                                                    Bb2 - C#4                                   4                                                    

Guitar pan                                                     D3 - F4                                     2

Cello pan                 Baritone                       B2 - Bb4                                3    

Tenor bass                                                   G2 - D4                                     4

Six bass                                                        A1 - D3                                      6

Nine bass                                                      A1 - B3                                     9