It’s a diverse group – there’s an accountant, a teacher, a potter, an outdoor recreation specialist and even a poet. But on Sunday nights, they all pull out their mallets and turn into steel drum musicians.

They are Pan Buffalo.

The sound they create is whimsical and has a Caribbean vibe. The sound of the drums isn’t crisp, but light and airy. Each note played holds on and resounds as the song continues. Think beautiful melodies like that of a tenor bass and a bell.

For three years now, the diverse crowd has gathered at Buffalo High School to practice. Some have played instruments before – and some haven’t. Some, admittedly, don’t know how to read music. But David Romtvedt has taught them how to create rhythmic sounds using a mallet and a piece of hammered steel.

“On a steel drum, you can make really nice music from fairly simple parts all added together,” Romtvedt said. “Each person might not have to be a virtuoso technician, but when you add all the parts together, you get something really beautiful.”

Steel drum history

The steel drum originated in Trinidad. According to Romtvedt, the instrument was created, for the most part, by poor teenage boys searching for a means to fit into an unfamiliar culture.

“They were looked down upon,” he said. “They were black in a colonial imperial place. The British were the colonists in Trinidad then. And these boys had a strong desire to prove they were as good as the colonial masters. The way they were going to prove that was by playing the music of the colonial masters. So they started learning how to play symphonies, like Beethoven.”

These boys would teach themselves entire symphonies just by ear, Romtvedt said. Traditionally, steels drums were taught completely by ear, but as the instrument evolved, standard music notation entered the picture.

“The steel drum is one of the most popular education tools in the United States now,” Romtvedt said. “It’s in high schools, colleges and even middle schools. Even in Trinidad they use music now, but not much. Typically, there is a director of an ensemble. That director teaches the part to each section. Then there are section leaders who teach the part to the other players. It’s all by ear. They say, ‘Do this. OK, good. Now do this.’ It’s pretty exciting. They learn very complex pieces that way.” 

Small beginnings

Romtvedt plays the role of director. But he said he isn’t a steel drum maestro, so when he and Buffalo High School music director Brent Rose wanted to introduce a steel drum community and high school band to Buffalo, they questioned how.

“None of us was a steel drum player,” Romtvedt said. “So we contacted one of the top three or four most famous steel drum players in the United States and had him come here for a week-long workshop.”

Enter Tom Miller, steel drums ensemble director at the Lamont School of Music in Denver. Miller is a performer, composer, arranger and educator of steel drum music.

“I have taught myself because I wanted to do this,” Romtvedt said. “I’m a musician. I have done some work with steel drums, but not very much. I guess you could say I’m a musician who is teaching other people a new music for the musician. Tom worked with the high school kids and the public. And he worked with Brent and me to help us learn. Then we had him come a second time. Then a third time. Each time, we would learn a little more from him.”

Now, Romtvedt has arranged a couple of pieces for the group. He utilizes the piano to do so, playing several pieces at once. Then he goes back to the steel drum to see how it sounds. He’s even arranged a Basque piece that the group will play for the Episcopal bishop of Wyoming during his visit to St. Luke’s Saturday.

“The steel drum band has played for a number of community events,” Romtvedt said. “We’ve played in the Christmas parade, and the Basque festival and in the summer parade. People hear about us and call up and ask us to play. We are also playing in March for the Sheridan College Festival of Cultures. They put on an event that showcases a variety of things from around the world. Of course, this is something different.”

It’s that uniqueness that encouraged Romtvedt and Rose to bring steel drums to Buffalo. Through Worlds of Music, a Buffalo-based non-profit organization, and funding from the Johnson County Recreation District, the drums were purchased and are on perpetual loan to the school.

“Worlds of Music has run programs in the schools and communities since 1995,” Romtvedt said. “We always did programs, and the idea of the program is to provide opportunities for people to participate in music that otherwise wouldn’t be seen around there. I thought we should do something that has permanent opportunities, instead of just guests. That was good, but what if people want to have something they can keep doing. We decided on steel drums. First, it was for the school, but we wanted a community group too.”

Hearing the numbers

Romtvedt attracted people from all across Buffalo and began to teach them how to play the steel drums.

Every musician has his or her own way of learning the music – whether it’s a guitar player, a pianist or a violinist - and that’s no different for Pan Buffalo members.

For local accountant Jeff Williams it’s all about the numbers.

“I don’t know how to read music, but I can listen to other instruments and I know when to come in,” Williams said. “I know by ear and numbers. I started with the band right after I moved here, which was in September or October of 2009. I have never played a musical instrument in my life. This is the first. It’s something to do on a Sunday night, and David is a good teacher. I learned pretty quickly.”

For Kim Harvey, it was a little harder to pick up the instrument and just play. She’s only played for a little over six months. She started with the band for a challenge. And she said that’s what she’s gotten. But through repetition, a love of music and the diverse crowd, she keeps going. 

“It has truly been a challenge,” Harvey said. “But I am having fun, and I think that’s what keeps me going. It’s not something that comes easy. I have to work at it, but I am seeing results. It is so unusual, and it’s such a diverse group. It really is fun.” 

As one of the original band members, Suzi Black was intrigued by Miller’s clinics.

“I know of watched the first time he came,” Black said. “Then, the second time he came, I did a little more. It was fun. I really liked it, so I started coming.”

Black said when she started playing the steel drum, it was definitely hard – to a point where she would get irritated.

“At first, it seemed like I was never going to get it,” Black said. “I was really frustrated. But it seems to get easier. When I first started, I wrote all of the notes down. Then I would pick it out, and I could hear it. You just have to play it enough times.”

Each member is provided a drum, and Romtvedt said if the group expands, they will buy more drums. Anyone interested in joining should contact Romtvedt.

“Anyone can come,” Romtvedt said. “Not only do you not have to have experience playing a steel drum, you don’t have to have musical experience.”

The music and the pan 

According to malletjazz.com, each drum is constructed by hand, starting with the bottom of a 55-gallon oil barrel. The drum is hammered into a concave shape, and each note is made by hammering groves into the steel. The drum hangs freely from metal stands and is played with different sized mallets, chosen accordingly for each drum.

Because the instrument is fairly new, Romtvedt said companies that make the drums are still arguing about how best to build them.

“It’s not like a violin, where we know what we think a violin should always be,” Romtvedt said. “For example, the pattern of where the notes are is still changing. They still can’t agree on the order for notes. Even the way you tune them, whether you want a nice, mellow, warm, sweet sound, or a big, noisy, metallic, bangy sound.”

There are those who enjoy the big, metallic sound, Romtvedt said, because they say the music is meant to be raucous. It’s meant to be intense. Powerful. Energetic.

“Others want a nice, clean, round sound,” Romtvedt said. “They want to play smooth.”

And steel drums have a rich tradition.

In the beginning, they were used to play Trinidadian calypsos almost entirely. Then, the musicians wanted to prove they were capable of playing more complicated music. That’s when the classical pieces started to surface in the steel drum world.

“Then, because they were in the Caribbean, they said, ‘What about all the music around us, too?’ ” Romtvedt said. “They started playing some other Latin-American music. You would hear some Cuban salsas or Brazilian sambas or Latin jazz. Pretty much, because there wasn’t a very long history and the steel drum was invented in a colonialized nation that was very aware of the rest of the world, the steel drums bands would play anything they wanted.

“But there is still a strong commitment, like in the big contests in Trinidad, you have to play one calypso.”