Steel drum
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The Steel Drum, or pan, is a tuned percussion instrument. Steel drums were first developed in the Caribbean, but are now heard at carnivals and festivities in many parts of the world. Steel drums are made in different sizes : the shallow tenor pan shown here is one of the main melody instruments in steel bands. It can play 29 individual notes at different points on its surface.
| Family |
| Percussions |
| Pitch range |
| Variable : from four to about thirty notes. |
| Material |
| The top of a 55-gallon (250-liter) steel oil drum. |
| Size |
| About 23 in (58 cm) in diameter, variable depth. |
| Origins |
| The steel drum originated in Trinidad in the 1940s, for playing in carnival processions. |
| Classification |
| Idiophone: an instrument that produces its sound through the use of the material from which it is made, without needing strings or a stretched skin. |
| And also... |
| Steel drums are the noisiest of instruments to make - you have to beat them with a hammer to tune them. |
