Steelpan named as T&T’s National Instrument

The melodic Steelpan, also known as steel drum, known all over the world to be the most significant musical instrument to be developed in the 20^th century, after the passage of the legislation in Parliament, will now be officially known as the Trinidad and Tobago’s national musical instrument.

On Wednesday, July 3,2024, addressing the debate on the National Musical Instrument Bill, in the House of Representatives, Randall Mitchell, the Minister of Tourism, Culture and the Arts, stated the fact. The mentioned bill provides for the Steelpan to be named as the National Musical Instrument of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.

The Steelpan is a percussion, chromatically pitched instrument made from 55-gallon industrial drums. The instrument is called pan rather than drum as it comes under the idiophone family of instruments, so this can’t be called a drum.

The pan originated in Trinidad and Tobago, is played holding a pair of straight sticks with rubber wrapped around the tips, for which the type and size of the rubber varies according to the class of pan they are being used on. The musicians playing the steelpan are known as pannists. Some pannists use four pan-sticks, holding two of them in each hand.

Steelpans were developed in the early to mid 1900s inspired by an instrument then known as Tamboo Bamboo that was made from bamboos cut out to different lengths. Several problems including the tendency to splinter easily resulted in the invention of the Steelpans. The instrument was invented by Winston ‘Spree’ Simon, in Laventille, Port of Spain, Trinidad.

After being read about thrice in the House of Representatives, the bill for the designation of the instrument was passed. Minister Mitchell also congratulated the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago on the historical decision.

The pan although has been recently named the national instrument of Trinidad and Tobago but has already appeared on the tails of the aircrafts of BWIA, former national airlines as their final logo.