DNAInfo.com
Brooklyn, New York, USA - The steel drums may have been born in Trinidad — but for this island-born tinkerer, it took a move to Brooklyn to find the pan's perfect pitch.
Clement Franklin, 54, of Canarsie, began banging out steel drums in 1985, but it was only a decade ago that he undertook the much more delicate art of tuning the popular Caribbean instrument — an intricate process that he and more than a dozen other specially trained ears will repeat over hundreds of steelpans this week in advance of Monday's West Indian Day Parade.
"Some guys can't get the tuning — they can shape and prepare the pan, but they can't get that tone," Franklin explained as he tapped away with his hammer, gently "blending" a pan for Despers USA-Trini, one of about a dozen steel drum bands that will compete and perform during the weekend-long carnival.
"Everybody has their gift, but some people are slower than some."
read more
Replies
Hello Clement,
This is big brother Ian. Good luck on Saturday and see you back here in Laventille next couple of weeks. I will view the Panorama on the net if aired.
BIG UP HEADS. paddy