Trinidad & Tobago
Trinidad & Tobago is a beautiful double island country at the end of the Caribbean Island chain. At its closest point, Trinidad is only seven miles away from Venezuela. Trinidad & Tobago was a British-held colony until they gained their independence in 1962. You can find more information about Trinidad & Tobago in the link below.
TAMBOO BAMBOO
When the enslaved Africans arrived in Trinidad & Tobago, they were treated harshly. The musical instruments that they had brought including djembes were destroyed and taken away. That did not stop them from creating music. The enslaved Africans decided to use the resources around them to make new instruments. Trinidad is full of bamboo trees that make musical sounds when they are cut to a certain length. They then expanded this band to include glass bottles and junk metal to compliment the bamboo instruments. This group later became known as Tamboo Bamboo.
Tamboo Bamboo
This video is a story on Tamboo Bamboo in Trinidad & Tobago. These gentlemen talk about the history of Tamboo Bamboo, and how it influences the music of Trinidad & Tobago today.
STEEL PANS
Tamboo Bamboo was the catalyst to a new instrument that has since swept the nation. The junk metal from Tamboo Bamboo morphed into steel pans that most people are familiar with from any Caribbean-influenced music. The steel pans were created by two people: Winston Spree Simon and Ellie Mannette. These two men created the first steel pans and music to be played on these instruments. Today, there is a full orchestra of steel pans that can play soca music from Trinidad & Tobago to classical music from Mozart. Steel pans have slowly started to make their way into classrooms as a great way to get young students involved in music.
How are Steel Pans made?
The process to create steel pans is very unique and time-consuming. Most steel pan tuners spend multiple years learning this craft. This video from Panyard shows their process of creating a steel pan from a regular 55-gallon oil barrel to a beautiful steel pan.
PANORAMA
The largest stage that steel pans perform on is at Panorama in the Savannah Park in Port of Spain, Trinidad. This competition finds the best performing steel band in all of Trinidad and Tobago. There are three rounds where they narrow the bands from over a hundred to the top ten. From the top ten, the judges pick the best steel band for that year. Each band makes an arrangement of a popular song. This video is of BP Renegades when they one Panorama in 2019 with their arrangement of Hookin Meh.
STEEL PAN ARRANGEMENT
This free arrangement is a great piece for a beginning steel band to start with. You can also adapt this arrangement to your existing ensembles. It will work great with jazz bands, percussion ensembles, and concert bands. The arrangement is I am a Believer by The Monkees.