A little bit about Steel Drums
Steeldrums were invented in Trinidad & Tobago. Trinidadians refer to the instrument as ‘Steel Pan’, but I have given up trying to educate Americans to this fact. So I usually just call them steel drums. Almost all steeldrums are still made from the bottom side of a 55-gallon oil barrel. The steel drum is the only musical instrument invented in the 20th Century. Sure, there are electric versions of instruments that were already around, but there was never a steel drum. It’s an entirely new invention. The sound is not generated from the size or weight of a piece of metal the way a xylophone is. Each section of the surface of a steeldrum is tightened and loosened with a hammer by a skilled tuner. So one steeldrum actually contains many individual drum heads with steel skins. At least that’s my limited understanding of it. As far as I’m concerned, it’s a miracle that such an angelic and haunting sound can come out of an oil barrel. A good place to research steel drums, or any other subject, is at: Wikipedia