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Online Steelpan (Steel Drum)
Play the steelpan with our simple online keyboard.
The steelpan (also known as the steel drum) is a relatively modern musical instrument which is made out of a 55-gallon oil drum. By creating carefully formed convex dents in the base of the drum, the instrument can be tuned so that when these dents are hit with a mallet, it produces a note at a certain frequency.
The instrument was developed in the 1930s in Trinidad and Tobago, and is the country’s national instrument.
Steelpans are frequently played together in a steel orchestra, or steelband, with different pans in the group covering different ranges of notes - soprano, alto, tenor and bass for example.
The steel drum has been used in many modern songs, such as by rapper 50 Cent and famously in the song Crank That by Soulja Boy. If you’re using the keys on your keyboard, you can play the main steel drum riff from this song by pressing the keys indicated below:
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Enjoy playing with the virtual steel drums and let us know in the comments your favourite songs that use this instrument.
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