How to Safely Hang & Move a Steel Pan (Steel Drum)
The thing that you least want to do with your steel pan is to drop it, which is very bad for the instrument. Notes can easily go out of tune when a steel drum is dropped and sometimes the pan will never sound as good as it did before being dropped. What is the best way to put your steel pan onto the stand? Hold your steel pan with both hands and with 4 fingers firmly under the rim so it can’t go anywhere. Then with your thumbs on top of the rim, you can controll each of the 2 loops. When you go to set the steel pan on the stand, it’s very easy for your thumb to guide that loop onto the notch of the stand. Guide the loop onto one side first and then the other and you will never have to worry about dropping the pan. This is important to show any children in a steel drum band program if they are going to be allowed to handle the steel pans.
Sometimes, when there is not a lot of time, you might want to move a stand and the steel pan at the same time. The worst thing is to hold onto just the stand alone, because if someone comes by and nudges the steel pan while you are moving it this way, it could easily fall. First, make sure the pan stand itself is tightened and secure. With your fingers, hold onto the stand (near to the steel pan) on both sides. Then with the palms of your hands, hold against the sides of the steel pan firmly so it can’t be jarred loose. This is also an important thing to show any children that you’re teaching, if they are going to move the steel pans.
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