Tenor Bass

The tenor bass consists of four drums cut at two thirds of their length (62 cm). Each drum contains five notes. The tonal range is one and a half octaves, from G2 to D4. The notes are distributed systematically left to right on drums 1-2-3-4 on a chromatic scale (see figure). This will result in each drum ringing in major chords as with the quadrophonic pan.

Overview of the Tenor Bass pan

Special crafting techniques

No separate sinking is done on the basses. The surface is lowered at the same time as the pan is backed. It is important that the borders (the grooves) of the notes have a straight slope (not convex or concave) down towards the middle. The width of the groove is usually a bit broader than on the higher pans, but it seems to work with the same width.

During the softening part of the tuning of basses, a club-like wooden wedge is used to raise the notes, see fig. B.12. This wedge has a long handle to make it easier to reach down to the note surface inside the drum.

Measures for the Tenor Bass pan

The tenor bass was measured during a research trip to Trinidad 1990.