As a boy, he watched pioneering tuners at work and came into contact with Winston "Spree" Simon who created the multiple notes on the convex metal containers used for making pans.
By 1956, Bertie Marshall had accomplished the most significant development in today’s steelpan tone, revolutionizing the method of tuning, by changing the instrument from the inharmonic style.
He developed the Quadrophonics, Six Pan and Twelve Bass, together with Rudolph Charles of Desperadoes Steel Orchestra from Laventille.
Marshall was part of a project of the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute in 1982, which investigated the possibilities of machine production of steelpans.
Because of Marshall’s contributions to Trinidad & Tobago’s National Instrument, the T&T government awarded him their Chaconia Gold Medal, given for "Outstanding Service to the Country".