Stockholm Steelband
© Ulf Kronman, The Pan Page. Publisher: Musikmuseet, Stockholm, Sweden.

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
of notes

Tonal Range

Depth of playing
surface [mm]

Length of
side [mm]

Hole pos.
from rim [mm]

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