I started teaching back in 1975 in a very big comprehensive school in South Wales. It had a fourteen form entry, so I taught about twenty classes in the first two year groups throughout the week. Around 1980, one of the classes was an all boys special needs group. I was teaching music and believe me, teaching them music was a real challenge. Their singing was awful. Reading songs was also a problem.
Now, the next door room was the metal work class, so between us, we hatched a plan. Together we'd make a set of steel drums.
Making steel drums is actually quite a complicated process. First, you have to cut the oil drum to the right height. Next bash down the surface of the drum with a hammer to make a perfect concave shape. After that, you mark out all of the different shapes with a hammer and a doohdad. By now, my hands were in shreds. Now comes the fun. Place the drum on a fire until it is almost white hot, remove from the fire and quench it with a bucket of cold water....steam everywhere. Finally, you go behind each individual note and 'pong up' . This involves hitting the back of each note with a small hammer. That section then 'pongs up' and suddenly, the note rings true with that classic Caribbean sound.
Steel drums, like many other instruments come in different sizes. Ponging up wasn't a problem with the small and medium sized drums but the bass drums were a different matter. We'd taken only the bottom off the bass drums so somebody would actually have to get up inside the bass drum to pong it up. We placed the drum across the edges of two desks and I was about to bravely crawl up inside the drum with my lump hammer when a small boy stepped forward and said, "Sir, let me do that for you."......so I let him.
Small boy gets up inside the drum.....silent pause for a moment then BOOOOONNNNG.
He came out a lot quicker than he went in and believe me, it was just like a scene from Wile E Coyote with the poor boy's body quivering like a struck bell.
I did get the drums finished although tuning them beat me in the end.
I moved school shortly after that and soon after that they invented health and safety.
Phil
Now, the next door room was the metal work class, so between us, we hatched a plan. Together we'd make a set of steel drums.
Making steel drums is actually quite a complicated process. First, you have to cut the oil drum to the right height. Next bash down the surface of the drum with a hammer to make a perfect concave shape. After that, you mark out all of the different shapes with a hammer and a doohdad. By now, my hands were in shreds. Now comes the fun. Place the drum on a fire until it is almost white hot, remove from the fire and quench it with a bucket of cold water....steam everywhere. Finally, you go behind each individual note and 'pong up' . This involves hitting the back of each note with a small hammer. That section then 'pongs up' and suddenly, the note rings true with that classic Caribbean sound.
Steel drums, like many other instruments come in different sizes. Ponging up wasn't a problem with the small and medium sized drums but the bass drums were a different matter. We'd taken only the bottom off the bass drums so somebody would actually have to get up inside the bass drum to pong it up. We placed the drum across the edges of two desks and I was about to bravely crawl up inside the drum with my lump hammer when a small boy stepped forward and said, "Sir, let me do that for you."......so I let him.
Small boy gets up inside the drum.....silent pause for a moment then BOOOOONNNNG.
He came out a lot quicker than he went in and believe me, it was just like a scene from Wile E Coyote with the poor boy's body quivering like a struck bell.
I did get the drums finished although tuning them beat me in the end.
I moved school shortly after that and soon after that they invented health and safety.
Phil
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