jimi phillip seems like an amazing craftsperson and this video documenting his whole process is a gift

i'd never really thought about where the steel pan sound had come from, so seeing him cut the top of a steel drum off was a real epiphany - oh, obviously steelpans came after... steel - and then - hmmmmm i wonder why certain people in the carribbean had to make their own instruments 🙃

the wikipedia article on the steelpan is a good read for the history of african music, slavery, and cultural suppression that hammered the steelpan into existence

Chas Sheppard's Sounds Like Steel documentary, which this Jimi Phillip interview is a behind-the-scenes excerpt of, is also great