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Where to Buy and Tune Steel Drums
There is much to consider. Quality. Price. How soon do you want them? Who will tune them when they need it?
As in all things, there may be some correlation between price and quality, but the range is extreme with these handcrafted instruments. Of similar quality instruments, one may be two or three times as expensive as the other. You even may like the sound of one maker's pan better than another that is two or three times as expensive. If you are fortunate, you will have a chance to hear pans made by the people you are considering. Talk to pan players and ask about their opinions and experiences... and realize that yours might be different!
Some pan makers can fill your order in weeks or months. With others, you may wait years for your custom instrument!
Perhaps geography will be one of your most important considerations. Steel drums have to be tuned from time to time. Maybe every year? Maybe more, maybe less. It depends on how hard you play them, how often, and under what conditions. It's best to have your pans tuned by the person who made them. They'll know how they tuned their harmonics, and the nuances of their particular style of pan. Another tuner may alter the tonal quality of the pans. That may or may not be important to you.
Remember to consider the cost of stands, and if you will be moving them around, cases for transport.
California
Lark in the Morning, Ft. Bragg, CA
Florida
Coyle Drums, Pensacola, FL
Tropical Hammer, Sanford, FL
Illinois
Cliff Alexis, Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL
Indiana
Steel of the Night, Jeffersonville, IN
Maine
Carl Chase, Brooksville, ME
New Hampshire
Maccabee Panworks, Conway, NH
Ohio
Panyard, Inc., Akron, OH
Pennsylvania
Solomon Steelpan Company, Pittsburgh, PA
Trinidad North Steel Drums, Media, PA
Rhode Island
Steelpan Instruments Technology, Cranston, RI
South Carolina
Tropical Hammer, Seneca, SC
Texas
Steel Island, Austin, TX
Washington
Rhythmical Steel, La Center, WA
West Virginia
Mannette Steel Drums, Morgantown, WV
Canada
Earle Wong, Toronto, Ontario
Phone: (416) 422-4040 Fax: (416) 422-3429
Trinidad
Trinidad & Tobago Instruments Ltd., Laventille
Gill's Steelpan Shop, Curepe