Playing Doubles on the Steel Drums

Playing Doubles on the Steel Drums
Hi. I'm Alan Lightner with Expert Village. We're talking about the role of the different instruments in the steel drum family and how they function in a traditional setting, if you're playing with a full steel band with a full range of instruments, how the various instruments fit. The next one we're going to talk about is the double second, the double second. We've already spoken about the tinner pan and the double tinner pan, now we're going to move to the double seconds pan which is the instrument that I have right here in front of me now. This range, the range on this pan is very similar to the double tinner. Occasionally double seconds go a little bit lower. Some double seconds start at this low "f", which is just where the double tinner start. Sometimes even an "f" sharp or "g", depending upon who made it and then when they made it. My particular pans go a little lower. They go to "e", go down to this low "e" below that "f". That's where the double tinner started. This "e" is where my double seconds start, this particular set, other sets may be a little different. The role of the double second in a steel band is to also support melody occasionally, but more importantly I would say, and more often to play chords and rhythm. To function as the guitar player in what we might think of in a normal kind of pop situation. They're going to support some, some melodic ideas, but mostly it's for the harmony and the rhythm. There are specific patterns that double seconds players play in Calypso and Soca music, which is generally the music that comes from Trinidad, where the steel bands play. I'm going to demonstrate some of those now. I'll start with the first one and give you a chance to practice that. And we'll use that same little melody that we've been using. That little "f" scale melody. And I'll use it down low where a double seconds player would play it. That might be that range. If a double seconds player was going to harmonize that, he might play this chord first, then this chord, then this chord and move back to the first chord. I don't want to talk so much about the chords. What I'd like to talk about is the rhythm. The rhythm that we're going to play on those chords. So, typically, if that music was going, we've got one, two, one, two, three, four, one.