1. The Steel Drum (or Steel Pan) is a drum made from a 55 gallon oil drum.
2. The instrument is crafted and tuned with a hammer.
3. The Steel Pan was first created in Trinidad and Tobago in the late 1930's, early 1940's.
4. Trinidad and Tobago is an island in the Caribbean Sea, about 20 miles off the coast of Venezuela. (See enclosed map)
5. Today's Steel Pans are fully chromatic instruments (like the piano, or any band or orchestra instrument).
6. Steelbands in Trinidad are very large; bands often have around one hundred players.
7. The percussion section in a Steelband is called the "Engine Room".
8. A "Panyard" is where Steelbands rehearse and craft and tune Steel Pans.
9. Two styles of traditional music played on the Steel Pan: Soca and Calypso (Soca is very similar to Calypso, but usually faster).
10. Soca and Calypso are both vocal styles; the Steel Pan that usually plays the melody from these songs is called the "Lead Pan" or "Tenor Pan".

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