Online Steel Drum

How the Online Steel Drums Works

This free online steel drum lets you play the bright, ringing sound of a steel pan in your browser, with no download, install or sign-up. It uses recorded steel drum samples, so you can play island melodies, try simple tunes or add a tropical feel to a song idea. A progress circle shows while the sounds load, and playing starts once every note is ready.

Play with Keyboard, Mouse or Touch

Play the pan by clicking or tapping the round bumps on the drum, or by using your computer keyboard. The layout follows the real instrument, with each bump matching a note. The Keys and Notes buttons show or hide the labels, and the Play guide shows the layout.

Rings and Rolls

The outer ring of the drum holds the low notes and the inner ring holds the high notes, just like a real steel pan. Strike the bumps one at a time, or drag across them for a quick roll. Notes ring out naturally, and the sound knobs let you add reverb and echo for a bigger, open air sound.

Transpose, Volume and Sound Settings

The Sound panel groups its round knobs into Notes, Space, Tone and Master. Notes controls playback speed, transpose, sustain length and touch dynamics, Space adds reverb, room size and echo, Tone shapes bass, mid, treble and warmth, and Master sets stereo width, compression and overall volume. Drag a knob up or down to change it, double-click to reset it, or pick a ready preset such as Concert hall, Warm vintage or Cathedral. The Transpose buttons move the steel drums up or down by semitones to match a singer or another instrument, the volume slider goes up to 200 percent, and your settings are remembered for your next visit.

Record, Play Back and Download

Press Record and play, and your take appears on a timeline where you can play it back, drag to select just one part and clear it to start again. The Demo button plays a built-in tune so you can hear the steel drums straight away, and it can be recorded too. Open the Download panel to save your recording as an MP3 or WAV file, choose the bitrate, sample rate and mono or stereo, download the whole take or only the selected part, normalize the loudness, let the last notes ring out, remove silence at the start and add a fade in or fade out. All processing happens in your own browser, so your music stays on your device.

Works on Every Screen

The page adjusts to desktop, tablet and mobile screens. Use the buttons at the top right to switch between the light and dark theme or to go full screen, and on a small phone turn the device sideways to see more of the instrument.