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Ragtime on Steel Drums Launched

Today the long anticipated launch of Ragtime on steel drums has arrived.

A Scot Joplin page with 30 of his works arranged on several combinations and permutations of steel drums with marimba, vibraphone, harp and selected synthesizers has just been added to our site.

This collection is made up of Rags (including the Maple Leaf Rag which was the first one to be published and is today's streaming sample) Dances, Marches and Entertainments or Novelties including the Entertainer and Easy Winners which were featured in 'The Sting' movie. You can trace the developments of syncopation recorded here into the beginnings of Jazz especially in the work of people like Jelly Roll Morton. It is a fascinating step along the path that led to the development of today's popular music.

This is our first departure from European classical music although Scott Joplin was strongly influenced by his classical music education and in his turn influenced European composers such as Debussy and Satie.

These pieces were a joy to arrange - they have been refreshed by our percussion treatment - why not give them a hearing.

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