Dr. Darren and Jennifer Duerden both say they fell in love with the sound and energetic music of the steel drum. Having been involved with steel drum bands for many years, and even meeting in a steel band, the two co-founded Shaka Steel, BYU–Hawaii’s first steel band and the only functioning steel band in all of Hawaii.
Darren Duerden, the founder of Shaka Steel, said when he first came to BYUH as a faculty member, he discovered the school had never had a percussion instructor. Having been involved with steel bands for many years, so pitched the idea of developing one at the school. Duerden said nobody knew what a steel band was, but in 2001 he and his wife started the university’s first steel drum band.
Darren Duerden’s wife and co-founder of Shaka Steel, Jennifer Duerden, shared, “Part of the reason we did it [at BYUH] is because we’ve done steel band at BYU in Provo.” She said they had conducted different steel bands in different states, like Florida and Mississippi.
Darren Duerden said, “BYU-Hawaii has the only active steel band in Hawaii.” He explained there are some steel drummers in Waikiki who play on the street, and there are a couple of professionals, but the Shaka Steel band is the only functioning steel band in the state.
Steel drums, he said, are instruments that are not mass-produced. “When you place an order for them, they’re handcrafted, and it takes a while for them to be made.” In fact, a craftsman from Florida made most of the band’s drums, he explained.
“The steel drum is an instrument that developed in the island country of Trinidad and Tobago,” Darren Duerden explained. He said he fell in love with the steel pan and the culture associated with it back in the 1980s.
Having also met his wife in a steel band, he said they both love the sound and the fun, energetic music associated with it.
“I’ve always found the sound of the steel drum to be very transformative. It always kind of takes me to a different place. … It takes me to a happy place when I hear it.”
Jennifer Duerden said in a steel band there are melody, harmony and bass players. There are two sets of harmony players, one plays the higher notes and the other plays the lower notes, she explained.
“If you compare it to a choir, it’s like the soprano would be the lead part playing the melody and then the altos and tenors would be the harmony parts.
“Everybody in the group gets better with rhythm because it’s a very rhythmic ensemble. …Students come in, they get experience in this group they maybe wouldn’t get in another type of group.”
Darren Duerden described playing in a steel band as “an ensemble for the percussionists.” Instead of just playing in the background, he said the drummers are in the front. “It gives percussionists a chance to read music.” In Trinidad, he said they teach people to play by ear, but in a university setting, it is a chance to strengthen music reading skills.
Jennifer Duerden said Shaka Steel has toured the inter-islands of Hawaii. These tours not only brought the students closer together, she said, but also they also served as an outreach program as they were able to recruit students to attend BYUH.
Darren Duerden shared, “We’ve never been cleared to do an international tour until this last year, and that is why this tour that we have scheduled for the Philippines and Indonesia is huge because I’ve been pushing to try and get an international tour for the steel band for 20 years.”
Kris Krisanalome, a BYUH alumnus and former member of the Shaka Steel band, said he started playing for the steel band in 2016 playing the steel pan, called the ‘double second,’ which consists of two pans.
He shared that, in his first week of school, he walked into Dr. Duerden’s office and told him he wanted to study music but he didn’t know how to read music very well. Krisanalome said Dr. Duerden suggested he join his class and the band, explaining it would help him learn to read music.
Krisanalome said he struggled reading notes in the beginning, but said Dr. Duerden helped him, and with a lot of practice he improved. “It’s very exotic and unique to be in this band,” he said.
Spreading peace internationally through music
Jennifer Duerden shared how she’s seen David O. McKay’s prophecy, that students of BYUH will be an influence for peace internationally, fulfilled in the band. She said, “These students in our classes are from all different countries and they get to know each other. You know in the world where countries are fighting with each other, we have students from those countries here learning to get along with each other.”
Dr. Duerden said he recently wrote a letter of recommendation for Krisanalome who recently got a job as a drum instructor at a school in Thailand. “He’s now going to take Latin, Caribbean and Hawaiian music to Thailand because that’s what he learned here. If that’s not spreading good, peace [and] cultural understanding internationally, I don’t know what is.”