05 STEEL DRUMS

 

STEEL DRUM The steel drum originated around 1850, but development exploded when U S military forces left 55 gallon steel drums in remote places like Alaska and remote islands during WW11. The natives, who had never had such a pliable and permanent building material took to the free sheet steel. Eskimos soon began to speak of the size of a job in terms of how many empty drums would be needed. The first musical drums were just empty drums. Around 1950 Caribbean natives began to tune the drums, make drums with more than one sound by hammering dimples in the drum tops, cut off part of the lower drum, and ended up with the modern steel drum. 

 

HANG DRUM The Hang drum  can look and sound like a steel drum turned upside down. Its development has been slowed by commercial interests possibly trying to drive up the price of a drum.

 

HAPI DRUM The Hapi drum, like the Hang drum, is of recent origin. The shape of the playing surface of all the types of drums is the same, semispherical. The Hapi drum has tines, or tongues, cut into the top of the drum. The size and shape of the tine determines the sound and tone of the tine.

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