The Pan Man - Steel Drum Production

A day of touring with Jesse James (no fooling, that's his name) and his "Member's Only Maxi-Taxi Tour Co." allowed us the opportunity to discover the fine art of steel drum (pans) production.
We were introduced to a very labour intensive science that revealed the great strength and skill required to produce the sweet sounds of calypso music.
The studio we visited hand crafted pans with primitive tools. The process being that the steel drum is heated, then by means of dropping cannon balls by hand and using heavy mallets, over many hours, the steel is stretched down as far as 9 inches, allowing space for up to 36 notes.
We were told that some drummers play as many as 12 pans at a time.
We came away very impressed by the great talent we witnessed in the fine art production of these exquisite pans.