Trinidad and Tobago: Carnival, Calypso and the Country That Invented Steel Pan
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The steel pan — the only acoustic instrument invented in the 20th century — was developed in Trinidad in the 1930s and 1940s by musicians in the African Trinidadian community who discovered that oil drum bottoms, when hammered into concave sections and tuned, could produce a full chromatic range. The instrument was born in the context of carnival culture, used initially by the poor communities whose participation in carnival was restricted by colonial authorities, and became the signature sound of Trinidad's national identity. Pan orchestras — steelbands — now perform classical symphonies and jazz as fluently as calypso.
Trinidad's Carnival is the second most internationally famous in the world after Rio's, and its influence on Caribbean and diaspora culture is arguably deeper. The Monday and Tuesday before Ash Wednesday are the days of Carnival proper, but the season runs for months: panorama (steel pan competition), calypso and soca competitions, and the J'ouvert morning street party that begins at 2 AM on Monday and runs until dawn. J'ouvert — from the French jour ouvert, open day — is deliberately rough, deliberately joyful, and very specifically not for Instagram.
The dual-island nature of the country — Trinidad large, industrial, cosmopolitan; Tobago small, quiet, tourist-oriented — produces a dual national character. Trinidadians and Tobagonians sometimes feel they are almost different peoples. The political union has worked since 1962, but the differences in culture, economy, and pace of life remain visible. Trinidad runs at full speed. Tobago runs at the speed of a coconut falling.
