Purchasing Guide

It is our mission to help you find the best possible drum for your needs. We offer instruments for all levels of experience, from children to advanced players, and instruments to fit every budget. We are happy to talk in person to help you find the best drum and invite you to call us at 304 291 6022. In addition, we hope this short article will help serve as an outline for our products.

MINI Steel Drums:

If you are looking for a steel drum for a child with no musical experience, our Mini Steel Pan Drums are a perfect fit. The mini drums are also great fun for beginner adult players. The mini drums are offered as a single mini, or double mini pan, and in a painted or chromed finish. The benefit of the double mini steel drums is that they offer chromatic range, meaning that every note in the scale is available to play. The single Mini C Pan is only in the key of C. The chromed finish offers improved tone, a clean brilliant look, and improved durability.

Medium Steel Drums:

We offer several different types of medium drums. We have single medium drums that are hand crafted in Trinidad and Tobago, and the Island Elite Series (IES) 14” medium drums that are hand crafted in the US.

The Medium drums from Trinidad and Tobago are chromed, and are tuned in the Key of C (similar to the Mini C). They offer a very authentic “Trini” look, feel, and tone. These instruments are made of salvaged 35 gallon drums. They come with a wooden table top stand, mallets and short instructional booklet.

The Island Elite Series 14” pans are of a far higher quality in materials, craftsmanship, and tone. These drums are more consistent in tonal character from note to note, and from pan to pan. They will have a greater longevity of intonation over the years; they will stay in tune longer. The Island Elite Series instruments are also of a superior design in that they will provide a seamless transition to there full size counterpart, or our 18” pan series. This is due to the similarity in note placement in all of these instruments which are based on traditional, standardized designs, but arranged one octave higher. The IES pans are available as a single (lead), or double pan, and in a painted or chromed finish.

The benefit of the Island Elite Series 14"double steel pan drums is that they offer chromatic range, meaning that every note (including all sharps and flats) in the scale is available to play. The double 14” instruments have a low note of F# (above middle C) and the note layout is based upon the traditional double second whole tone pattern, but one octave higher.

The single or Lead 14” pan will play in the key of C major, D major, D minor, E minor, F major, G major, G minor, and A minor. The note layout on the lead 14” IES steel pan is arranged in a circle of fifths, which is based upon the traditional full size lead tenor pan, with the exclusion of, Ab, and Eb. The low note on the IES 14” single pan is C (above middle C).

Educational and community institutions would be well served with the IES 14” pan series for an entry level band and players. These instruments are also the perfect compliment to our IES 18” pan series, and our full size pan series. They offer a very affordable way to have many more players contribute to the band without the expense, and space constraints.

Professional Quality Island Elite Series 18” pans:

We are very happy to introduce this new line of unique instruments to the world of Steel Pan. The 18"Island Elite Series is the very first line of step up instruments that offer professional quality materials, craftsmanship, and tone. Professional quality is now available at a substantially discounted price. The benefits of the IES 18” pan series does not stop with affordability though. These pans are specially designed to provide for seamless transition to full size instruments. The vast majority of small scaled instruments on the market today are diatonic instruments (only playable in certain keys), and others offer note patterns that require players to relearn the stroke patterns when they transition to full size pans. Steel Drums Unlimited IES 18” pan series instruments are designed with note layouts that directly correlate to there traditional, standard full size counterpart. We are happy to offer a single lead, a double tenor, a triple guitar, and a 4 pan bass set in the 18” Island Elite Series. Click here to see diagrams of full size pans and our IES 18” series.

Full Size Steel Pan Series:

Steel Drums Unlimited is happy to offer a wide range of full size steel drums that are both imported from Trinidad and Tobago, and built by some of the finest makers in the US.