At the turn of the last century, steel pan pioneer Ellie Mannette was filmed in Port of Spain, Trinidad, the subject of a documentary, ‘Man of Steel’, by Caribbeing® founder, Yao Ramesar.Mannette, who can justifiably lay claim to the title of father of the modern steel drum, provides here a revealing chronology of the invention and evolution of the modern steel pan in its birthplace of Trinidad.Starting in 1930s Port of Spain when he first encountered Alexander's Ragtime Band, Mannette chronicles his myriad innovations, including turning the drums from convex to concave in 1941. He concludes with the quaduet, which he was working on at the time of this interview, a new solo instrument comprising four pans, with a near four octave range.
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