Voice 1
Thank you for joining us for today's Spotlight program. I'm Liz Waid.
Voice 2
And I'm Adam Navis. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
In the past one hundred years people have invented only one popular music instrument that does not use electricity. Do you know what it is? It sounds like this.
Voice 2
It is called a steel pan. Today's Spotlight is all about steel pan music. There are almost one thousand different groups playing steel pan music. It is played for presidents and for kings. It is played in famous music centres. But steel pan music is connected most closely to one place: the island countries of Trinidad and Tobago.
Voice 1
The history of these joint countries is full of struggle. Over the years, many countries have occupied Trinidad and Tobago. At different times, Spain, The Netherlands, France, and Britain have each controlled the islands. People also came to the islands to escape from trouble or trial in their home country.
Voice 2
While many people came because they wanted to, many did not. The French brought African people to the island as slaves. Soon there were more slaves than free people. Around the year eighteen hundred there were about seventeen thousand people on the islands. Ten thousand of these people were slaves. Several years later, Britain would take control of the islands and ban the slave trade.
Voice 1
The French did not only bring slaves to the islands. They also brought the tradition of Carnival. Carnival, also called Mardi Gras, is a celebration before the Christian season of Lent. As they did in Paris, French people marched through the streets singing, dancing, and playing music. The former slaves joined the parade too. They brought their own drums, and began adding their own beats to the celebration.
Voice 2
People usually make drums by stretching animal skin over an open container. On the islands, people used these drums to communicate across great distances. Although the British ruler had banned the slave trade, the British would not give up control of the islands. And they were afraid the people would use the drums to send secret messages of revolt. So, in eighteen eighty three, Carnival was celebrated but the government banned the drums.
Voice 1
Many people did not want to give up their drums. The slaves had lost many things - their families, their own languages, and their religion. Music was one connection to the past. And drumming gave them a way to express their emotions without words. Also, they missed out on taking part in celebrating Carnival.
Voice 2
So people found a way to keep drumming. Every time the government banned one kind of drum, the people found a new one. For example, people started to use bamboo. This plant grows in a large tube shape. The people would cut different sizes of bamboo, and hit them on the ground. This was called Tamboo Bamboo.
Voice 1
The Tamboo-bamboo groups soon became large. They even began to fight over who was the best. Some even made their instruments into sharp pointed weapons. Also, because many people were harvesting bamboo illegally, in 1934 the British government banned Tamboo-Bamboo instruments.
Voice 2
This did not stop people from inventing more new drums. In 1936, a music group brought new steel drums to Carnival. This was the beginning of steel pan. People made these first steel pans out of bread containers, paint containers, or waste containers. They were so popular that soon the young people of Trinidad were stealing every waste container they could find. Young people even took locked waste containers! They were caught in the steel pan movement.
Voice 1
They made steel pans by forming the bottom of the containers with heavy tools. They shaped different thicknesses on different parts. This created many notes on a single pan. The steel pan was now able to play whole songs!
Voice 2
During World War Two the music of steel pan became popular with American soldiers. They were living at an navy base in Trinidad. The navy base also brought a new resource for making steel pan instruments. Oil containers!
Voice 1
The navy ships needed oil. The oil came in large two hundred and eight litre oil containers. When the containers were empty, they were perfect for making steel pans. The oil containers were thick metal and lasted much longer than other materials.
Voice 2
During World War Two, the government again banned Carnival celebrations. Because of this ban it became more difficult to find materials to make steel pan instruments. Steel pan builders had to take materials from oil factories or navy shipyards. This caused conflict and violence between different steel pan groups. Sometimes, instruments were taken or destroyed.
Voice 1
But after the war, the government lifted the ban on Carnival. This began steel pans' high point. Music groups set up steel pan music celebrations. Different steel pan groups would gather and compete against each other. As Trinidad and Tobago became more independent, steel pan became a more respected kind of music.
Voice 2
In 1962, Trinidad became an independent nation and steel pan music was played at the national celebration. This was an important mark for steel pan as well as for Trinidad and Tobago. The music that was once banned street music had risen into a respected music form. It was part of Trinidad and Tobago's national character.
Voice 1
Today, steel pan music has travelled around the world and has been played by people outside Trinidad and Tobago. There are more than eight hundred steel pan groups in the world. Three hundred are in Britain. There are two hundred and forty in the United States. In Switzerland, there are one hundred and thirty groups and seventy percent of Swiss pan players are women.
Voice 2
Even while it is popular around the world, steel pan music is still closely linked with the culture of Trinidad and Tobago. Steel pan was the music of the poor, of the oppressed, of former slaves. But like the people of Trinidad and Tobago, steel pan music would rise up and demand to be heard.
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