Four Pan
The four pan consists of four drums, cut at half their lengths, with seven notes in each. The musical range is just above two octaves, from Bb2 up to C#5. The four pan has the same musical function as the old double guitar, i.e., mainly to play chords in the rhythm section, but its larger tonal range makes it more suited to fill in melodic lines. As the pan instrument develops, I belive we will see the four pan successively replace the ordinary guitar pan.
Overview of the Four pan
Unfortunately, the layout of the notes in the four pan is not as well structured as for the quadrophonic pan. A chromatic scale from the lowest note Bb2 and one octave upwards will follow the drum sequence 2-4-1-3-1-2-4-2-3-1-3-4-2 (see figure). There seems to be no reason why the layout of the four pan not could be chromatically sequenced in drums 1-2-3-4 as the quadrophonic pan, resulting in a major chord in each drum. Maybe we will see this happen in the future.
Measures for the Four pan
Data for the four pan was gathered during a research trip to Trinidad in March 1990. Some data is still missing, especially measures for the note sizes. The note sizes given here have not been measured, but are extrapolated from the same notes in guitar pans and double seconds. There is no existing pan with these notes, but their real sizes should not deviate too far from what is given here. Tangential measures for outer notes have not been calculated, because these are not relevant for panmaking.
Notes |
Drum |
Groove |
|||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number |
Tonal Range |
Depth of playing |
Length of |
Hole pos. |
Width [mm] |
Radial length [mm] |
End from rim [mm] |
28 |
Bb2-C#5 |
145 |
550 |
80 |
6 |
130 |
50 |
Note |
Position |
Radial length |
Tangential length |
Length along rim |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bb2 |
Outer 2 |
200 |
400 |
|
B2 |
Outer 4 |
200 |
420 |
|
C3 |
Outer 1 |
200 |
420 |
|
C#3 |
Outer 3 |
200 |
420 |
|
D3 |
Outer 1 |
190 |
390 |
|
D#3 |
Outer 2 |
190 |
380 |
|
E3 |
Outer 4 |
190 |
390 |
|
F3 |
Outer 2 |
190 |
390 |
|
F#3 |
Outer 3 |
180 |
380 |
|
G3 |
Outer 1 |
180 |
360 |
|
G#3 |
Outer 3 |
180 |
370 |
|
A3 |
Outer 4 |
180 |
360 |
|
Bb3 |
Outer 2 |
170 |
320 |
|
B3 |
Outer 4 |
170 |
320 |
|
C4 |
Outer 1 |
170 |
320 |
|
C#4 |
Outer 3 |
170 |
320 |
|
D4 |
Outer 1 |
160 |
290 |
|
D#4 |
Outer 2 |
160 |
290 |
|
E4 |
Outer 4 |
160 |
290 |
|
F4 |
Inner 2 |
102 |
160 |
|
F#4 |
Outer 3 |
160 |
290 |
|
G4 |
Inner 1 |
100 |
156 |
|
G#4 |
Inner 3 |
99 |
152 |
|
A4 |
Inner 4 |
98 |
148 |
|
Bb4 |
Inner 1 |
95 |
144 |
|
B4 |
Inner 4 |
90 |
140 |
|
C5 |
Inner 1 |
86 |
135 |
|
C#5 |
Inner 3 |
80 |
130 |