Arranging for Steelband - Part 2

This is Part 2 of a series of posts on the basics of arranging for steelband. Part 1 can be found here.

In Part 1 we briefly looked at the bare necessities of what one needs to arrange music for steelband, namely music theory, software, and where to look for sheet music. In Part 2 we will look at the different voices of a steelband, the ranges of the instruments, and a basic arrangement.

The Instruments and Voices of a Steelband

For a common "small" steelband, there are usually at least four different voices, much like in a small choir: the sopranos, the altos, tenors, and basses. In a small steelband, the voices are played by different pans as follows:

• The soprano voice is played by the Tenor Pan.
• The alto voice is played by the Double Seconds.
• The tenor voice is played by the Guitar Pans.
• The bass voice is played by the Bass Pans.

Another voice which is very commonly added, even to small bands, is another alto/soprano voice, played by a Double Tenor. Double tenors have the same range as double seconds, but have a different configuration and are used in a different ways in tunes.

To give an idea of the typical ranges of these different instruments, see the following diagram:

Ranges of the steel pans in a small steelpan.

Note that the diagram only shows approximate ranges, as pan configurations tend to change between tuners. Note also that the full ranges don't always produce the "best" sounds, and so are not always used fully. Double seconds, for example, often don't play in their top octave, although obviously this depends on the arranger and the type of piece.

The full family of steel pans contains a number of instruments with a variety of different ranges, but these can be looked up elsewhere.

Basic Arrangement

Small steelbands tend to arrange tunes over the pans in a fairly standard way:

• Tenors play the melody
• Double Tenors play harmonies or counter-melodies
• Double Seconds play chords (or "strum")
• Double Guitars also strum
• Basses play the baseline

(Just remember that this is for a basic arrangement -- the different pans can do different things depending on what the arranger wants, and don't have to be limited to what I've said here.)

For now we're going to ignore the Double Tenors. This means that for a basic tune, we need:

1. A melody
2. Chords (which will be shared between the Seconds and Guitars)
3. A bassline.

As I mentioned in Part 1, lead sheets (such as those available freely on Wikifonia) provide melodies and chords. If we use a tune from there, we'll have to make up a bassline, but that isn't terribly difficult.

Our final product will look something like the following diagram:

The first two bars of Begin the Beguine as arranged for a small four-part steelband.

Note how the melody line is taken by the tenors. The Double Seconds and Guitars share the chord part, and they play the chords using a simple "strumming" rhythm, a bit like a guitar in a rock band would.

In Part 3, we will look at how we actually arrange the tune into these four parts, using a leadsheet from Wikifonia. We will also look at creating a simple baseline. In later guides we will also change the strumming patterns used so that we can change the style of the song.