Making Music with Oil Drums

Guys, today, for my freewriting piece, I'd like to share with you the inspirational story of the steelpan, the national instrument of the twin-island Caribbean republic, Trinidad and Tobago, and the only acoustic instrument invented anywhere in the world in the 20th century.

Background

Trinidad and Tobago was a colony of the United Kingdom prior to gaining its independence in 1962. Before this time, all decisions related to governance on the island was made in Great Britain or by its emissaries.

As was the case with most if not all British colonies in the Caribbean, slavery was a part of the nation's history. Slavery ended with the emancipation of slaves in British colonies in 1838, following which the former slaves on the island of Trinidad held noisy and colourful celebrations which was frowned upon by the authorities, and so began the cat and mouse game which ultimately ended with the invention of the steelpan. At first, the government sought to contain the revelry of the former slaves.

• When the slave descendants first made loud music with drums, in 1881, the government on the island sought to ban drumming.

• The revellers then sought to make music with bamboo sticks which they called tamboo bamboo, and the tamboo bamboo was outlawed in 1934.

Still, the revelry and joy and music that swelled the heart of the masses could not be contained and, as the story goes, the steelpan was invented quite by accident shortly thereafter by a 12 year old boy growing up in an impoverished, lower class community near the capital of the island of Trinidad and playing around with the empty, discarded, toxic, 55 gallon oil drums supposedly left behind by the British navy.

As legend would have it, the boy in question, Winston 'Spree' Simon, first lent his steel drum to a friend and got it back beaten into a concave shape. No doubt angry with his friend, Simon then began hammering the drum back into shape. As he did so, he noticed that the pounding created different notes. He created four distinct notes, and the first steelpan was born.

My friends, I'd like to point out something here.

• Winston Spree Simon had no resources besides an old discarded drum and a hammer. He made music.

• He wasn't well educated. He didn't go to music school. He couldn't read a note. He played music.

• His family wasn't well connected. They had no financial backing. He invented a musical instrument.

Today, the steelpan has been gone through several iterations and its melody can be heard in some of the world's most renowned orchestras. What a proud moment, right?

Can you see opportunity?

Today, I share the story of the steelpan with you, the story of the boy who made music out of noise, melody out of despair, and who persevered- despite his circumstances, despite an unfriendly and restrictive climate- so that his music could entrance the world.

I am sharing this story with you today to remind you that, just like this little boy, you are never without the tools and resources you need to succeed. The way I see it, there's always an avenue you can take, even when it feels like the walls are closing in around you.

Sometimes, when our back is against the wall, and we are tasked to be creative, to think our way through and out of difficult situations, we'd much rather throw in the towel, throw our hands up, sulk, feel sorry for ourselves and use the argument that we are not as privileged as others as an excuse to say, I did not succeed because I did not have the access another person might have. But, as you can see, my friends, this is not strictly true.

The story of Winston 'Spree' Simon, the little boy who invented the world's only acoustic musical invention in the 20th century in an impoverished community on a tiny island, proves to us that this is not true.

So my question to you now, my friends, is do you have that type of vision? When the obvious is taken from you, when the lights are turned off, do you have vision? And when you look around you and at the simple things in your life, can you see opportunity? I think you can.

Have a great evening, everyone.