Tap the note areas hammered into the chrome bowl: the outer ring climbs in fifths from C4, the middle ring repeats it an octave higher, and the five small notes in the centre go up to E6. Roll on a note for the shimmering tremolo of a steel band, or play a calypso along.
The notes sit where a pan player expects them, so the shapes you learn here are the shapes of a steel band.
Going round the outer ring, each note is a fifth above the one before: C, G, D, A, E, B, F sharp and so on back to F. The notes of a chord and of a scale therefore sit close together, and the octave of every note lies just inside it, on the middle ring. It is the layout of the modern tenor pan.
A pan tuner shapes each note area so that it rings at its note, its octave and the twelfth above. GOONS synthesizes exactly those partials, with the tiny pitch drop of the moment the rubber stick bounces off the steel, and a short decay: the bright, singing ping that carries over a whole street at Carnival.
Pan players sustain long notes with a roll, striking the same note again and again with both sticks. Tap fast with two fingers to roll, or drag across the bowl for a glissando. Strike the bare chrome for a muted knock.
Play Island Breeze, a calypso-style original written for the pan, or classics steel bands love: the Can-Can, Eine kleine Nachtmusik, the William Tell Overture, Ode to Joy, Jingle Bells. Listen with the notes lighting up, then play along, one glowing note at a time.
The computer keyboard follows the piano layout used across GOONS: the middle row plays the natural notes, the row above the sharps and flats, Z and X move the range up an octave. Switch the labels to Keys and every note area shows its key.
The steel pan is the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago, born in the 20th century from oil drums hammered into instruments. Read its story below, then try its descendant, the handpan.
The C4 note is at the top of the outer ring. Tap it, then the C5 just inside it, and the C6 near the centre.
Go clockwise round the outer ring: C, G, D, A, E... Every step is a fifth, the backbone of chords.
C, D, E, F, G, A, B are all within a few notes of each other at the top of the pan. Try them in order.
Choose a song, press Listen, then Play along: the next note glows and waits until you strike it.
| Type | Tenor steel pan (lead pan), playable on this page, free |
|---|---|
| Notes | 29: outer ring C4 to B4, middle ring C5 to B5, centre C6 to E6 |
| Layout | Circle of fifths, each octave on the next ring in, at the same angle |
| Sound | Modal synthesis: fundamental, octave, twelfth and a high partial, stick strike transient, room reverb |
| Playing | Strikes, rolls (fast repeated strikes), glissandos, muted knock on the bowl |
| Songs | A calypso-style GOONS original and public domain classics, with listen and play-along modes |
| Controls | Mouse, touch with several fingers, computer keyboard in the piano layout with octave switch |
| Requirements | Any modern browser with Web Audio - Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari |
The steel pan was born in Trinidad and Tobago in the 1930s and 1940s, when players in Port of Spain turned biscuit tins, then 55-gallon oil drums, into tuned instruments by hammering their bottoms into a bowl of note areas. Steel bands grew from street groups into orchestras, and the pan became the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago. Every year, bands compete at Panorama during Carnival.
A steel band is a whole family of pans: the tenor, or lead, plays the melody; double tenors and double seconds play harmony; cellos and basses, made from several full drums, hold the low end. The tenor on this page is a low C tenor, the most common lead pan, with its notes in fourths and fifths - a layout that pan makers developed in the 1950s and that is still the standard.
Players in Trinidad and Tobago say pan or steelpan; steel drum is the name that spread abroad. Both mean the same instrument. It is struck with rubber-tipped sticks, while its younger cousin the handpan is played with the hands.
Yes. The steel pan at the top of this page is free, with no account and nothing to install. It runs in your browser with the Web Audio API.
On a tenor pan, the notes follow the circle of fifths: each note around the ring is a fifth above the previous one. It keeps the notes of chords and scales close together, and puts each octave right next to its note on the inner ring.
Tap the same note quickly with two fingers, alternating, or press its key repeatedly. Steel pan players use rolls to hold long notes, since a single strike fades in a second or two.
The middle row of letters plays the natural notes from C, like a piano: A is C4, S is D4, D is E4. The row above plays the sharps and flats. Press X to move up an octave and Z to come back.
Yes. The songs are classical melodies and traditional tunes in the public domain, plus Island Breeze, an original written by GOONS for the steel pan.
The steel drum is free, with no account. GOONS Studio adds drum machines, synths, a looper and a sequencer that play together - free for 7 days, no card required.
Free on this page, no account. Play the online handpan →