Steel band music history
Steel pans come from the Caribbean. Specifically, they come from the island of Trinidad. The island of Trinidad is made up of almost 1.4 million English-speaking people, but we can trace their roots back to Africa, India, China, the Middle East, Europe, and the Mediterranean.
Trinidad and Tobago is also the home of Caribbean Carnival. And it’s also the home of calypso, the music which consequently fuels steelband music there. The evolution of the steel pan started in the capital, Port of Spain, in the 1930’s. Thereafter, the steel pans playing of calypso in the annual carnival became an increasingly significant feature.
However, steel pans and calypso are just two of the many musical forms to be found in Trinidad. Because there are also strong traditions of dance, literature, sculpture and painting.