Steel Drum
The steel drum in five languages — steel drum, steelpan, Steeldrum
Related
Five languages
| Language | Name |
|---|---|
| Chinese | 钢鼓 |
| English | steel drum (steelpan) |
| Italian | — (usual name: steel drum) |
| German | Steeldrum / Steelpan |
| French | — (usual name: steel drum) |
The steel drum is an idiophone from Trinidad and Tobago: the end of an industrial oil barrel is hammered into concave notes, each a tuned area, and the whole steel surface rings when struck. It has no membrane and no resonator pipe; the depth and shape of each note set its pitch. Steel bands run from bass to soprano pans and can carry melody, harmony and bass.
Watch out: a steel drum is not a membranophone. A drum sounds from a stretched skin, the steel drum from hammered steel, which makes it an idiophone; the "drum" in the English name is historical, not a classification. It also differs from the handpan: the handpan is bowl-shaped, while the steel drum is made from a barrel end, with another note layout and technique.
Read deeper → The steel drum
Sources
- 各语种乐器名与钢鼓的体鸣构造，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Steel drum"；本文为原创表述
Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.