Ellie mannette biography

Elliott Anthony "Ellie" Mannette (5 November 1927 – 29 August 2018) was a Trinidadian musical instrument maker and steel pan musician, also known as the.
Elliott "Ellie" Mannette was born November 5, 1927, in Trinidad.
Musician Elliot Anthony "Ellie" Mannette (November 5, 1927 – August 29, 2018), a principal innovator and designer of the steel drum as a.

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As a child in Trinidad, Elliot "Ellie" Mannette was attracted to Carnival festivities and music. At age 11, he had his first opportunity to perform in a Carnival parade with the New Town Cavalry Tamboo Bamboo (later renamed Alexander's Ragtime Band). The group used traditional parade instruments, but these were subsequently banned by the British colonial government. Band members began experimenting with paint pans and biscuit drums and found that they could vary the pitch by striking different areas. Mannette and some other younger members formed their own band, the Oval Boys, the predecessor to the Woodbruck Invaders, one of Trinidad's best and longest-lasting groups.

When the British lifted the wartime Carnival ban after World War II, Mannette became the leader of the Invaders. About the same time, oil drums became the standard source material for the instruments, and Mannette, a machinist by trade, became a pioneer of the new technology. He sank the lid to create a tensed playing surface and fired the metal to improve the acoustic properties. A variety of steel drums was creat

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Bio

Elliott "Ellie" Mannette was born November 5, 1927, in Trinidad. As a child, he was attracted to carnival festivities and music. At age 11, he had his first opportunity to perform in a carnival parade with a group called the New Town Cavalry Tamboo Bamboo (later renamed Alexander's Ragtime Band). The group used traditional parade instruments, but these were subsequently banned by the British colonial government. Band members began experimenting with paint pans and biscuit drums and found that they could vary the pitch by striking different areas. Mannette and some other younger members formed their own band, the Oval Boys, the predecessor to the Woodbruck Invaders, one of Trinidad's best and longest-lasting groups.

When the British lifted the wartime carnival ban after World War II, Mannette became the leader of the Invaders. About the same time, oil drums became the standard source material for the instruments, and Mannette, a machinist by trade, became a pioneer of the new technology. He sank the lid to create a tensed playing surface and fired the metal to improve the aco

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Dr. EllioTt "Ellie" Mannette

Ellie was born in Trinidad in 1927 and is widely regarded as the “Father of the Modern Steel Drum”- the instrument that he dedicated his life to developing and elevating. As a child in Trinidad, the steel pan art form had not yet been born. In his youth, Ellie had a vision of a musical instrument that could grow from the most humble origins - from discarded metal cans into tonal symphonic instruments. He pursued this vision with a rare single-mindedness, and achieved it through trial and error and invention and experimentation and epiphany. He was a powerful force and an integral part of the evolution of this musical steel drum - not just celebrated as an innovator, but renowned for his exceptional craftsmanship, the brilliance of his designs, and his unparalleled quality of sound.

Ellie emigrated to the US in 1967, and began traveling across America, building steelbands for schools and communities nationwide. In 1991, he was invited to move to Morgantown to join the WVU World Music Center. Sin