Working-class youths invented the steel drum in the 1930s by banging dents in the tops of discarded oil drums to create notes. Today, steelpan is Trinidad's de facto national instrument.

In front of me, yet another steel-pan orchestra makes its own riot of sound as it competes with its rivals. We all are backstage at the finals of Trinidad’s top steel-band competition, Panorama ...

The steelpan (also known as a pan, steel drum, and sometimes, collectively with other musicians, as a steelband or steel orchestra) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago. It ...

Wilfred Kieal Jr. "In Trinidad, it's called a Toco band, 'cause Toco's in the country," County says. "So when the band used to come down from Toco, people don't know what to expect.

Samaroo was also hailed as a “giant”, a “legend” and a “musical icon”. A member of one of Trinidad and Tobago's great steel pan families, Barry Manette, recalled meeting Samaroo for the first time: I ...

"We have—if you count just large steel bands—we have about 15." Pan's history began in the late 1930s, when American military bases in Trinidad needed oil and empty oil drums littered the streets.