Buy Solid Steel’s CD ‘Three’
Recordings of steel band music are generally of variable quality, but Solid Steel’s latest CD, ‘Three’ thankfully breaks that particular mould with its quality and consistency.
Recorded in late 2007, it was conceived as a tribute to the small genre from which it comes and to those that pioneered it. That genre is the all-acoustic three-piece steel band or ‘steel trio’ as it is better known.
‘Three’ features a mix of traditional Caribbean material and old standards which make up the steel band music that is still popular amongst the players on their gig circuit plus a couple of covers of some recent songs and the self-penned tribute calypso title track.
The band’s line-up features the virtuoso pan playing and vocal talents of British-born Thomas Alleyne (tenor pan, vocals), Dennis Davis (second pan, bass pan, hand percussion), tenor pan) and Paul Cherrie (bass pan, hand percussion, second pan, vocals), playing a ‘live’ set at producer Francis Hylton’s studio, ‘The Barbershop’, in Battersea.
Special Price: £7.99 including p&p
Buying Steel Drums
Build a Steel Band for your school or community
With over 25 years of experience in the business, we at Solid Steel are experienced and well-qualified to help you start your own steel band. As we demonstrate in our popular workshops, a steel band has all the elements of a typical musical group with elements of melody, harmony, bass and rhythm required to make it musically complete.
Steel Drums
You will need to purchase the correct balance of tenor pans (melody), second pans (melody/harmony), guitar pans (melody/harmony), cello pans (melody/harmony), bass pans (bass!) and un-tuned rhythm instruments (rhythm).
So the first question you will want to ask is ‘how many instruments do I need?’
Well this depends on the size of the band you would like to build.
You can set up your steel band with as few as 12 steel pans and a drum kit. We can offer you a 12-piece starter kit – a set of 6 bass pans, a pair of guitar pans, a pair of double second pans and 2 tenor pans with all the accessories required including sticks, stands and cases. We will also deliver these to you and show you how to set them up.
Of course the size of band you want to build may well be constrained by the size of the budget you have allocated to your new steel band. However, you can opt to build your band gradually as long as you maintain the correct balance of instruments along the way. Eventually you may arrive at what we typically find is the most popular size that our customers opt for which is:
Steel pans
- 4 x tenor pans
- 3 x sets of second pans (2 in each set)
- 2 x sets of guitar pans (2 in each set)
- 2 x sets of cello pans (3 in each set)
- 2 x sets of bass pans (6 in each set)
- 1 x drum kit (5-piece)
- 1 x pair of conga drums
- Assorted hand percussion (cowbells, shakers etc.)
Whether you want to start small or with a full range of steel band instruments, Solid Steel will guide you through the whole process.
So don’t delay, start your own steel band today!
