Ellie Mannette: Father of the Modern Steel Drum

Watch the video of Ellie Mannette: Father of the Modern Steel Drum

Ellie Mannette, born in Trinidad in 1927, is considered “the father of the modern steel drum.” He is the director of the Modern Tuning Project at West Virginia University, and an artist-in-residence. Mannette has worked for 75 years to develop and popularize the steel drum, creating seven of the ten instruments used in steel drum bands today.

Videography by Charles Weber, John Wetmore, Marinna Guzy, Michael Headley, Andrea Curran.
Edited by Julia Narrow.


Catalog No. CFV10471; Copyright 2013 Smithsonian Institution