Mr. Johnston has also developed a drum [steelpan instrument] that he calls an echophone. It’s made of three drums, he said, and “It’s mainly used to do works for the French horn; it can play harmony and melody.” - Herman “Rock” Johnston - New York Times
The former body builder-turned-steel-drum-band-leader gained international acclaim in the early 1960s after coming up with an innovation that stretched the instrument’s musical range from 24 to 36 notes.
Florida, USA - On Monday (April 30, 2001) Mr. Johnston, who moved his family to Spring Hill from New York 12 years ago, died at home after a four-year battle with prostate cancer. During a career that catapulted him from his native Trinidad to appearances at the United Nations, Lincoln Center, Radio City Music Hall and with the Boston Symphony at its summer festival in Tanglewood, Mr. Johnston’s repertoire spanned musical genres, including rock, spiritual, classical, show tunes and Caribbean folk melodies.
Festival Winners
of 1964 - West Side Symphony performing “Elizabethan Serenade”
Echophone
steelpan
invented
by
Herman
Johnston
-
images
provided
by
Adrian Ramdoo
Herman
Johnston
inventor
of
the
Echophone
steelpan with
BWIA Sunjets
Herman
Johnston,
who
developed
the
Echophone
steelpan
Herman Johnston
with
Echophone
steelpan and Johnston Fantastic Symphony Steel Orchestra
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