Equally popular nowadays is soca . Most attribute the birth of this musical style to the late calypsonian Lord Shorty (Ras Shorty I), whose souped-up rhythm created a more danceable form reflecting the then popular disco. Soca dominates Carnival, with more than 400 new songs released per year. The Road March title - the song played most often during Carnival - is now a soca domain, often taken by singers such as Super Blue and Machel Montano .

East Indians have given soca their own slant through chutney , mixing soca beats with sitars, dholak drums and Hindi and English lyrics. Vocalists to look out for include Rikki Jai , Sonny Mann and Drupatee Ramgoonai. Chutney has also influenced the conventional soca industry; white calypsonian Denise Plummer continues to flirt with the form, as does Machel Montano.

In the poor Port of Spain suburb of Laventille, oil drums brought by US troops in World War II were hammered into concave sections that produced rough notes, creating the steel drum , or pan as it's known locally. Though panyards were initially seen as dens of iniquity, the movement gained respectability as the music became more complex. These days, the panyard calendar revolves around Panorama , the nationwide competition held during Carnival. Other places to listen to the sweet pan music are local panyards and national events such as Pan Ramajay .

Carnival is the best time to hear local music. T&T's musical spectrum is wider than these styles: at Christmas, you'll hear the Spanish-sounding parang , while East Indian festivals such as Hosay and Phagwa take place to tassa drumming, and Jamaican dancehall reggae is popular all year round.