An Overview of the Steelpan The steelpan , steel drum or pan as it is called, is part of the world's ocean of musical apparatus. It is a simple-looking instrument that produces a wide range of pitches (G1-F6) on the chromatic scale (12 tone scale in tonal music). It originated in the small Caribbean twin-island state of Trinidad & Tobago in the early to mid 1900s. When played collectively with other musicians, this is referred to as steelband or a steel orchestra and the players themselves are called pannists . It is made from standard 55 US-gallon industrial steel drum containers used in the shipment of chemicals internationally, hence the term 'drum' referring to the cylindrical steel container from which it is made. The straight stick or Panstick as it is called, seen in the photo above, is used in a pair to play the pan and sometimes 2 pairs, one held in each hand, are used by pannists for more tonal nuance. The tip of the sticks have different sized rubber fitted