A brief history of the steel pan
Amid the electronica of 20th Century music one new instrument stands out for its simplicity. The steel pan, possibly the only instrument made out of industrial waste, has become an icon of Trinidadian & Caribbean culture.
Hammered into the shiny metal surface is a series of dents. Each one creates a different note, subtly different from the ones around it, according to their position and size.
The steel pan emerged in the 1930s. Metal objects including car parts, paint pots, dustbins, oil drums and biscuit tins, were originally used as percussion instruments, but at some point they began to be tuned.