Miami University Steel Band

Sunday
Another sunny, blue sky day from start to end! We managed to fit in a walk after lunch at Sharon Woods, before returning to church for 3pm for a concert by the Miami University Steel Band. This is the Miami University in Oxford Ohio, our younger daughter’s alma mater. It was a terrific concert - and listening to this lively music, with the sun pouring through the stained glass windows, you could almost imagine yourself being in the Caribbean! As part of the programme the director briefly explained the history of the steel band, and talked about the individual drums or pans as they are correctly named.
The steel pan was invented in the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago in the 1930s. The instrument's roots are in rhythm bands, where players would use pots, pans, paint cans, car brake drums, biscuit tins - anything they could get their hands on - to play a rhythm. The instrument quickly evolved from these non-pitched instruments to cans with a handful of notes on the face, and eventually to instruments constructed of 55-gallon oil barrels, containing the entire chromatic scale, and allowing players to perform in any key. Hammered into the shiny metal surface is a series of dents. Each one creates a different note, subtly different from the ones around it, according to their position and size. After the concert, the director invited anyone who was interested to go up and have a closer look at the pans and talk with the students. We didn’t see the full band today - they didn’t think there would be room for all of them and all their instruments. They have a big event coming up in April on the university campus, where there will be a number of other steel bands as well as their own. I should love to go up to hear it, but we currently have Symphony concert tickets for the same evening, so I shall have to see if we can change them!
One year ago: Snow-capped daffodil