When I was in Key West, Florida a few years back, I recall a man playing this instrument: It was a large bowl roughly 3 feet in diameter and was set perpendicular to the ground. As I watched the man play, I noticed that he was using two padded drumsticks (one that a bass drummer would use) and was hitting the inside of the bowl. The bowl itself had sections that were flat in contrast to the rest of it almost resembled the pattern on a soccer ball, except some of the flat parts were larger than others, and there were keys painted on each flat surface such as A#, F, C flat and so on. What is this magical majestic instument called? I wish I had some recollection of the name of it. A pre-emptive thank you to those who have read this and obtained some reasonable understanding of my bad memory
Sounds like a steel drum, which was invented in Trinidad.
And strangely, there’s another SDMB out there!
Wow, never underestimate the power of knowledge and the internet. Thank you. I have many questions, but I know some things 
Cecil Adams really has created a quasi-empire of intelligence (as if MENSA isn’t enough!) hasn’t he?