Metallography in music - Microstructures in the Caribbean steel drum

Optical and electron metallography have been employed for the last 4 years to study various aspects of the materials science and metallurgy behind the Caribbean steel drum. Various drum steels used for steel drum manufacturin g have been characterized to differentiate original microstructures. Observ ations have been made in various musical notes or, "note zones" of the Cari bbean steel drum in an effort to determine how specific microstructural fea tures contribute to its construction and musical quality. Heating the drum head over a fire has been observed to improve the musical (or tonal) qualit y due to strain aging by increasing the hardness of the steel drum head and providing the requisite elastic properties to individual notes. Heat-treat ing the steel drum at high-temperatures has a drastic effect on hardness. M icrostructural observations by metallographic techniques have made possible the determination of the origin of such hardness increases. These observat ions may provide innovative variations to producing different musical tones in the Caribbean steel drum. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights res erved.