From the island of Trinidad, this instrument creates sound like no other that many Carlsbad natives have taken on as their hobby.

“It’s a bowl that has musical notes on the inside of it,” junior Alison Pateros said.”It’s so different and people just don’t expect the instrument I play to be steel drums. It definitely makes a different sound than a normal drum.”

Opposed to a normal drum, the steel drum creates more than the basic beat of percussion.

“With steel drums you’re doing more of the melody and chords,” Pateros said. “We can play anything really. We can play jazz, to funk, to pop songs; I played a Justin Timberlake melody once and that was fun.”

With this variety of musical genres, Carlsbad’s Kainga Music students attend several community events to showcase their skill.

“Sometimes we play at street fairs and other events like one time we played for the marines and their families,” Pateros said.”The most frequent place we have performances at is the Old California Coffee House in San Marcos. We play outside and we play a variety of fun songs.”

Other Lancers such as Phillip Carmack, Ms. Alfonso and Mrs. Stockalper participate in the Kainga classes for steel drums as well. Although this instrument is one of a kind, these musicians find playing the steel drums fairly simple.

“If I can do it, you can do it,” Stockalper said.

With Carlsbad’s infamous “Yes I Can” attitude in mind, these Kainga students fully embrace the culture that goes hand in hand with the steel drums.

“Kainga means extended family, it’s really the feeling and atmosphere that is generated in these classes,” Alfonso said.

Some may think teacher/student encounters outside of school may come across as awkward, however Pateros, Alfonso and Stockalper defy this standard as they listen to and cheer for each other as they preform.

“It’s great, you get to know students in a different aspect and get to see their non-academic talents and where they shine. Both Ally and Phillip are phenomenal steel drums players,” Alfonso said.

As each community member’s choice between contemporary and classic music vary, the steel drums group unites the many different music lovers within Carlsbad.

“My favorite part is playing music with the people that I’ve become really close to and it just makes it feel like such a community,” Pateros said.”It’s really awesome how music can do that and bring people together.”