Ellie Mannette (1926- )
Ellie Mannette is one of the biggest names in the steel pan
community, and many consider him the “father of the modern steel pan.” He contributed a great number of improvements
to the instrument that are still used today.
In 1946 Ellie was actually the first person to “sink” the
oil drum to give it a concave shape.
This very idea opened many doors for other builders and tuners to do
some much more with the metal than they ever thought. He is also credited with invented he designs
for many pans including the double seconds, double guitars, triple cellos, and
tenor bass.
In 1963, he came to the US to help develop the US Navy Steel
Band program, and in the early 90s, he became artist-in-resident at West
Virginia University. Here, he created
Mannette Steel Drums Ltd., which not only manufactures pans but trains tuners and builders. Even at the age of 88, he is still working
at WVU tuning and training.
Ray Holman (1944- )
All the music played for the Panorama competition came from songs from the radio—either a song a steel band had previously recorded or from a popular calypso song. That is until 1971
when Ray Holman composed a song for the Panorama competition that had never
been heard before.
While this feat sounds like something to be praised at the
time, it actually created an outcry from many people and some even threatened
with violence if his song won the competition.
For many outside of his band, they saw it as his ego being too big for
wanting to put his own music in Panorama.
For those in his band, they were unsure if this would benefit them. All
the other bands were performing songs that were already known and had a better
chance of getting higher scores because of the judges’ familiarity with the
songs.
Despite all this, Ray went boldly with his decision for his
band Starlift to play his song “Pan on the Move.” He felt Panorama should be a forum for everything steel pan, including introducing new music. Even with all the uncertainty and unfamiliarity
with the song, they ended up winning 3rd place that year.
Ray has arranged and composed many songs that have lead
different bands to win various competitions around the world. Thanks to his contribution to the pan’s
music, original songs—now know as "own songs"— are becoming more commonplace.
Aldwyn “Lord Kitchener” Roberts – (1922-2000)
While Kitchener has no direct connections with the steel pan
or steel bands, he had strong ties and allegiances to them and was pivotal to the steel
band movement. He was a very highly regarded
calypso artist in Trinidad, and his compositions had the most influence over the music of the
steel pan in the early years. Thanks to his compositions of
“pan calypsos”—music he wrote in mind for steel bands to rearrange for the instrument—the steel pan was seen as more than the instrument of
vagabonds.
Bibliography:
Blake, F.I.R. (1995). The Trinidad and Tobago Steel Pan. Molins de Rei, Spain: Gràfiques 85.
Lord Kitchener. Retrieved fromBlake, F.I.R. (1995). The Trinidad and Tobago Steel Pan. Molins de Rei, Spain: Gràfiques 85.
Rogers, L.
(n.d.). Elliot "Ellie"
Mannette. Retrieved from
Sten, L.
(n.d.). Ray Holman:Panman on the Move. Retrieved from
http://www.trinisoca.com/calypsonians/Kitchener.html
image of Aldwyn “Lord Kitchener” Roberts retrieved from
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