For as long as instruments have been given electronic capabilities, musicians have been conjuring up ways to manipulate their own instruments to create their own unique, exciting sound. The same is true of steelpan musicians, who now, are able to treat their pans like electric guitars with the first direct-in style microphone ever released, exclusively for steelpan and handpan instruments. It’s called the EnSoul Pan Pickup, made by Mid-East Manufacturing out of Melbourne, Fla.
Established in 1973, Mid-East Manufacturing is known for making instruments such as the harp, sitar, bodhran, oud, doumbek, ukulele, and dulcimer and countless percussion instruments as well. Wanting to make its mark in the steelpan industry, the company decided to try a concept pan players have been wanting for many years: a magnetic pickup made specifically to amplify the steelpan. But the road there would prove more challenging than anyone could foresee.
“I am sure the idea has been around for putting pickups on pan for a long while and a lot of people have tried it. I myself even tried doing it with guitar pickups back in the 90’s to no avail,” said Tracy Thornton of Pan Rocks. “My good friend Rick Earl and I have been working on our own pick up for the past 2 years and have found many discoveries on how to get them to work. Much like Thomas Edison, through trial and error, we have discovered about 9,999 different ways it doesn’t. I have been using the ones that Rick and I have come up with for about 2 years now. The problem was consistently replicating them. It boiled down to time and money (like most things or lack thereof).”
After struggling to get his own pan pickup off the ground, Thornton met Greg Kundrat of Mid-East Manufacturing at PASIC 2017, who was sharing a booth with Drumstrong. Kundrat had his own version of a pickup attached to a Tong Drum and effects pedal. Thornton told him about his own issues and asked him about the pickup he was using. Kundrat explained how it worked and promised to send one to Thornton to try out. Thornton received it three weeks later and began the process of beta testing it for Kundrat.
“To my excitement, it worked exactly like the ones Rick and I had made (the ones that worked). So after a few chats and letting him know that this is going to be a game changer in out world (the steelpan world) and the handpan world and I would be glad to be the life line to them with all of my connections,” Thornton said. “As a lot of people out there know, I have been using lots of effects on my pan when I perform live and the reason I am able to is that the pickup is so good and is the bridge for me to get into that world. I am about as OCD as you can get when it comes to my ‘sound,’ and this has been the tool to help me get the sound I have been looking for out of my pans. It’s very exciting!”
The applications for the pan pickup include recording, live performance, compatibility with effects pedals and boards, and more sound control over the pan versus traditional mic setups which leave your sound susceptible to outside noise like wind and picking up the band or audience. Feedback is also removed from the equation.
“You can turn up louder is band situations. Believe me, I have been jamming with some friends in a room as loud as a Slayer concert and I can finally cut through volume wise with the pairing of the pick up and my effects rig.
It’s the perfect gateway to get into the effects world. I can honestly say that from experience. You can put steelpans in your marching band pits now and they can be heard,” Thornton said. “It can put on soloists in steelband concerts and have them cut through the band without picking up any of the surroundings. With the addition of using effects, you can get a small steelband to sound much larger. The possibilities are endless!”
The EnSoul Pan Pickup is currently available by Mid-East manufacturing HERE. Various versions are available for different uses.
