SteelPan Now! Notes on Where Pan Gone is a one-hour documentary that peers into the current world of the steelpan (steel drum), its players, its innovators, and the music that reverberates from this versatile instrument to find answers to the question that many in the island of its birth often ask, “Whey Pan Gone?”. The documentary follows several steelpan musicians, composers, arrangers, pan makers of various backgrounds across several cities in the United States who’ve spent decades involved in the steelpan movement.

The “beautiful instrument” as it’s often called and from which such mesmerizing music emanates had very rough beginnings in Trinidad, the island of its origin. For various reasons the steelpan had a bad rap. Its early pioneers were often denigrated and scorned as the dregs of the society. The colonial authorities of the time banned the beating of drums in public spaces. Regular police beatings were common as well as constant reminders of the worthlessness of both the instrument and practitioners. Nevertheless, these early pioneers resisted finding great satisfaction in the instrument’s potential. They found creative ways to continue its development despite the challenges. In time strong supportive communities developed in towns and villages where the steelpan thrived. Eventually many of the steelpan’s detractors embraced its development as a bona fide indigenous creation produced by grassroots communities. Years later the instrument was recognized as the only musical instrument created in the 20th century.