What Is a Steel Drum? How It Works and How to Play One Steel Drum Guide What It Is How It Works and How to Play A steel drum, more accurately called a steelpan, is a pitched percussion instrument developed in Trinidad and Tobago. Its playing surface is shaped into separate note areas, and a player strikes those areas with small rubber-tipped mallets to play melodies, chords and rhythmic parts. The instrument has a bright, ringing sound, but it can also play gently and [...]