Flashcards

Elliot “Ellie” Mannette was a Trinidadian pan pioneer and tuner. He is credited with being among the first to use the 55-gallon oil drum and to sink the playing surface into a concave shape, which gave the pan a fuller, richer sound. He later moved to the United States, where he built instruments and taught a new generation of tuners.

A pan tuner turns a plain steel drum into a musical instrument. The main steps are:

• Sinking: hammering the top of the drum into a bowl shape
• Marking and grooving: laying out the notes and separating them with grooves
• Tempering: heating the pan to harden the steel
• Tuning: fine hammering of each note until it sounds the right pitch