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Anguilla's Steel Orchestra (Guest Article) |
| From the Anguilla Local News - Site Map. |
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Anguilla's Steel Orchestra (Guest Article) |
| From the Anguilla Local News - Site Map. |
![[Click to enlarge Steel Orchestra at Soroptomist Party]](images/steelorch.jpg)
The Steel Pan was invented in
the village of Laventille, Port of Spain,
in Trinidad, in the early 1930's.
It is a definite pitch instrument in the idiophone class,
traditionally made from a steel drum or steel container.
Prior to this discovery, pots, pans, paint cans, buckets and
dustbin covers were used to produce a rhythm to revelers after
the Government had banned bamboo playing during World War II.
Severe abuse with sticks and pieces of metal bars or whatever
came to hand on the metal containers formed indentations on
their surfaces, and by chance notes/musical pitches were created
and became the foundation for today's instruments. It is claimed
that Winston Spree, a Trinidadian, made the first steel pan.
There are basically three broad groupings in a Steel Orchestra:
The instrument over the years has improved and now has a full chromatic range and is capable of playing almost any piece of music within its range.
There are different parts to the Steel Pan:
The Steel Plan is played by the use of Steel Pan Sticks. The sticks
vary in length. The playing end of the stick is wrapped tightly
with strips of rubber or covered with a rubber ball (bass drum).
The sticks are wrapped thickly enough to have the little bounce
required to play the note, but not too much so as to deaden the
sound.
The Steel Plan in Anguilla
Steel Pan was introducted at the Albena Lake-Hodge Comprehensive
School in 1987. Mr. Michael Martin (pan tutor) had been invited
by the deputy principal, Anne Edwards, to perform at the general
assemblies during the school years 1986 to 1988. These
performances acted as a catalyst and a motivational factor to
many students and soon there were lots of students waiting for
the golden opportunity to learn to play. Mrs. Daphne J. Richardson,
the music teacher, then requested the expertise of Mr. Martin to
join the ALHCS staff as a pan tutor. Mr. Martin did most of the
teaching and Mrs. Richardson took charge of the transportation
and rewriting of the music for Steel Pan. Together with the
enthused students the band is what is is today!
The band traveled to Philadelphia in July 1997 for two weeks in an excahnge with a performing arts center there. It performed at several ceremonies and at concerts, gave workshops, and even played for the mayor. It was a thrilling experience.
We hope to travel again this year. However, we have limited opportunities
to earn required revenue from performances in a community
as small as Anguilla. We are therefore dependent on the
generosity of those willing to support constructive youth
development activities such as ours. In addition, new equipment
needs to be purchased. Also funds are necessary towards the making of
a CD of our music. For further information on how you or your
company can help in our fundraising ventures, call 264-497-2095 or
email to [email protected]
Guest article by Mirabelle West, Student
[Editor's Note: The high school students know their Pan Tutor as "Mr. Martin", but you may have heard him perform at hotels and nightspots as "Dumpa".]
Revised: March 03, 1998