The steel drum (also known as a steel pan) was invented in Trinidad in the early 20th Century. The first steel drums were made out of whatever the musicians could find, often garbage cans. In a similar manner, children can make their own steel drums out of coffee cans.
The steel drum described below will produce three notes. With added effort, many more can be added. The author has one with five notes sitting next to him as he types this article.
Materials for Children to Make their Own Steel Drum
The materials that are needed to build this steel drum are:
- An empty coffee can, preferably family sized, but regular size would suffice.
- A marker that will show up against the silver can bottom.
- A hammer small enough for a child to use effectively.
- A stick to act as a drumstick. Wooden spoons work well.
Procedure for Building a Steel Drum
- Take the coffee can and flip it upside down.
- Use the marker to divide the can into thirds (or fourths, fifths, however daring you are).
- Choose one of the thirds and with the hammer, tap the area until it is slightly dented.
- Test the dented area with the stick. The sound should be considerably higher than the non-dented area. If not, continue to hammer. Do not over do it or the can will become too malformed to play.
- When the sound is satisfactory, move onto the next third and repeat the process. Make this third even higher than the first by denting it more than the first one. If the first one is very high, then only dent this one a little.
- Leave the last third alone. It will already produce a note different from the other two.
Tips to Perfect The Steel Drum
Remember when making the drum not to over dent. Be careful not to ruin the structure of the drum.
To make a drum with four notes, simply divide into quarters. To make one with five, divide into quarters with a circle in the middle. Then dent the circle into a final note.
Another option is to make two drums, one from a economy sized can, and one from a regular. You should be able to get many different notes from the pair of them.
Do not expect the drum to be in tune. It takes a professional to actually tune the drum to notes.The important things is to have different pitches that the child can actually drum out his own songs.
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