“The Steel pan is the most effective tool for music education available in the world today.”
Our Background:
We started out in Denver, Colorado as music students collaborating and playing various types of steel pan music, not just calypso and Caribbean tunes, but also pop and fusion. The band has always appeared at events in various configurations, from a solo pan player providing background music at the cocktail hour, all the way up to the full quintet playing dance music at a cookout, wedding, or summer festival. The full band is at its finest when we bring in other instruments from outside the pan family like saxophone, guitar, keyboard, and a variety of other to add another texture to the performance. One of the goals in creating this band was to feature the pan in common musical settings, to reinforce its place as not only a Carnival instrument on the islands of Trinidad and Tobago (plus many others), but also as a mainstream instrument that is enjoyed around the world. A component of our goals is to help to establish steel pan music as an option for live music at events just as much as any other genre. Shout out to some of our instrumental allies like the talented Best Wex!
Our influences in the pan world include a long list of the pan greats that we’ve been lucky enough to work with for past & present gigs. Playing a pan alone in your basement can be a lot of fun, but nothing quite compares to learning it as part of a strong steel band, which shaped our experiences and cemented our love for pan. A memorable example of this was the Mannette Instruments Festival of Steel, which allowed to us to meet & work with top talent in the pan world, and establish friends and colleagues that would be allies for years to come.
Even more impactful were our travels to Trinidad and Tobago to play pan with a steel band for their Carnival celebration. Aligned to take place before the Lent season in the Christian calendar, Carnival takes place the Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday each year. Panorama, the world’s greatest steel band competition, is the Saturday before that. It is truly the pinnacle of the steel band experience and any pan player is lucky to be able to perform in it. There are numerous categories depending on band size, region, and instrument style. Traveling to the islands has made us especially grateful for the instrument that Trinidad and Tobago created and brought into this world. We are forever in their debt for that.
What Do We Offer?
Pan Association offers live performances of steel pan music, clinics, master classes, and lessons both in person and online for groups and individuals of all types and ages. We personally look over the Denver, Colorado area but offer our services nationwide. This website serves as an outlet to learn more about steel pan music, shop pan, to book the band for performances or band members for lessons, as well as a musical discussion area with our blog section!
Interested in music lessons for drums, percussion, or steel drums? We offer steel drum lessons and instruction in all areas of percussion for students of all ages. Contact us for more information. Check out our Media Page see some of steel drum videos!
Our philosophy and approach to teaching steel pan is based on the methods we were taught as students learning from our mentors. Both of our experiences learning to play pan included the use of sheet music and learning by rote. The rote method does not utilize written notation in the learning process, but rather communicating, explaining, and demonstrating the musical content for students. Then, the use of mechanical repetition in context allows the students to solidify the material in their hands and minds. It is the the most common way music is learned in Trinidad, and many argue that there are benefits to using the rote method. I can personally attest to remembering pan music from Carnival for years after I perform it because of how strong of an impression the music has made over time.
