The Band

Steel pan bands did not start at one particular time, as I had thought they might, but seem to have evolved over the years. The first bands on Trinidad played regular skin drums during Carnival, but in the late 1800s those drums were banned. The players then used chunks of bamboo because they discovered that different lengths produced different sounds and pitches. Those became known as Tamboo Bamboo bands. When those were eventually banned, steel pan emerged, and because the slaves were more free by that time steel pan had a chance to thrive.

As the instrument evolved, so did the bands. At first they may have only incorporated a few metal drums into their bands, but soon they became solely steel pans. When people discovered that by using larger containers and longer sides you could get different pitches to the overall instrument, it opened up a whole new realm of possibilities. By 1949, over seventy-five steel bands were in existence and they founded the Steelbands Association of Trinidad and Tobago. Because the pans were cheap to make, most of those playing were from the lower classes. Steel pan music represented the plight of the poorer people, it was known as poor black man’s music. In the early to mid 1950s there were even competitions between the bands, held despite disapproval of the upper classes, who did not embrace the new music or instrument.

Even once the slaves were freed in the late 19th century, the inequality in Trinidad and Tobago continued. The division of both race and class helped foster the need in the lower classes for a symbol of their plight and a way to express themselves. This is what music does in many contexts because it is both a product and a shaper of culture. Hip-hop is a good example in the US. It is a symbol of black lower class and the problems they face. In many cases around the world, music is a way to expose the structural violence being permitted in even the most prosperous areas of the world.

However, a change occurred in the early ‘60s, because middle-class Whites and East Indians started picking up the steel pan craze. This changed things because it was now not just the poor black man’s music but music that was performed by and spoke to many different types of people. In 1963 the Panorama came into existence. It was a formal competition with obvious and desirable ends. Companies such as Coca Cola, Angostura and many others began to provide financial assistance and rewards to the winners. Steel pan was becoming a lucrative past time.

Now, the bands are very complex, with many different types of pans and even other percussion elements as well. They perform at Carnival and Panorama and many other events throughout the year. It is almost impossible to walk through Port of Spain without seeing at least one steel band or mas camp. This craze is an integral part of the history of the islands.

Citation:

Emerit, Ronald C. "Steelband (Trinidad)." Trinidad & Tobago (From the 20th Century

Onward), 2008. http://www.bestoftrinidad.com/steelband.html.

(accessed March 30, 2010)

Images:

http://www.fridayislandweddings.co.uk/images/wedding-steel-band.jpg

http://washingtonprintmakers.com/files/steel%20band.jpg