Music has always been a passion of mine. I have been singing since I was 4 1/2 years old and I have been a performer for the past 18 years. I stopped singing a long time ago when I started to play an instrument. This instrument is called the Steel Drums, better known as Steel Pan to my native country of Trinidad and Tobago.
The Steel Pan is the only instrument invented in the 20th century and is made of discarded oil drums. Just like most inventions, the steel pan too was created by accident. Around 1942 or 1943, a 12-year-old boy from Laventille (a small town in Trinidad) named Winston "Spree" Simon, loaned his large iron "kettledrum" to a friend. When it was returned, his drum had been beaten concave and had lost the "special" tone Simon liked. He started pounding the under surface of the drum back to its original shape and discovered that the pounding created different pitches or notes. He produced a four-note drum and, by this accident, started the transformation of the steel "drum" from a rhythm instrument into a melodic one.
hi sparkle,
ReplyDeleteI'd be interested to know where this story came from. the dates are a bit off what I know.
steelpan was invented in the 20th century, btw :-) More innovation lies ahead in the 21st century, no doubt.
cheers
liz
Oh I'm sorry! I wrote the story but it was during a time when I was extremely tired from work. I did mean to say the 20th century, that was a typographical error, I humbly apologize.
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