The Art of Pan

Steelpan. The musical artform that fills me with a feeling of unbridled joy and jubilation. From the minute you hear the hollow sound of a stick beating against a single steelpan, signalling that the band is about to start. The crowd is silenced. The anticipation is deafening.

Out of the heavy hush, it starts ... that perfectly intense and harmonious spectrum of clangoring. And it flows, in a gloriously, melodious and infectious sequence of unrestrainable musical charm and energy. Like nothing you've ever heard. The rhythm takes over you ... and spellbound, you're lost in its sweetness. 

That is pan, the music of my beloved island.

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I am here learning, with the TCL Skiffle Bunch steelband, under the direction of His Worship Alderman Junia Regrello, a pan practitioner, captain of the TCL Skiffle Bunch, a man who is committed to culture and country, and the Mayor of San Fernando.

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PAN: The national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago, an acoustic tuned percussion instrument, and an icon of the culture.

It is made from recycled industrial drums, by hammering out a series of indentations into the metal surface, each one creating a different note, depending on its size and position. The sticks are made by wrapping one end of a wooden stick with a strip of rubber from bicycle inner tubing. 

ORIGINS: Created by 18th century enslaved Africans for a festival called Canboulay, an alternative to the Catholic festival, Carnival celebrated by French colonists, at which the slaves were prohibited. 

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STEELPAN or simply PAN are the terms for the genre and the instrument. 

The STEEL BAND, STEEL ORCHESTRA or PAN SIDE is an ensemble of steelpan players.

A PANNIST is the musician who plays pan. 

The PANYARD is the place at which the band practices.

PANORAMA: The annual steelband competition takes place in Trinidad every year during the Carnival season.

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Steelpan was for a long time considered a subversive art form, sometimes associated with hooligans and criminals.

Until the late 1970’s Women were prohibited from playing steelpans, when the genre began to become more mainstream and accepted.