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Trinidad Steel Pan Creators

Trinidad Steel Pan Creators

Who are the best makers, designers and creators of the Steel Pan in Trinidad & Tobago?

Creators Pan Steel Trinidad

Liam Teague-Northern Illinois University Steelband
https://www.liamteague.net/biog.html

Ellie Manette:
West Virginia University

1. https://www.nalis.gov.tt/Biography/Elie_Man...an_pioneer.html

2. https://www.basementrecordings.com/news/adk/mannette2.htm

The people listed above are the modern purveyors of the pan but I would say the actual creators, sadly, would never be mentioned because they came from an area of T&T that was considered 'low class' and 'undesirable' therfore not worthy of mention! According to my mother, pan was considered a "Laventille' art form thefore not worthy of pursueing!

Spree Simon, as I was told and I read up on was as true a creator only because he was the most visible and therefore recognizable while the better and less marginalized were not able to gain the benefit of their skill and experience!
Even Manette, as good as he was was not an originator but he was surely more of a literate background to put forth his thesis when others could not formulate the background or were not even participants in the pan birth!

I went to West Virginia 1 month ago to visit some friends and was as surprised to know they knew what pan was because there a fellow in this 'hillybilly' part of town
(I am using it in a positive way here becasue they refer to each other as such) playing pan as good as an Trini with all the scientific and technological advances to make the sound more acoustic.

I even came across a fellow from Finland (interent site) writing a treastise on how to make and tune pan!

Trinidad Steel Pan Creators Caribbean / Tobago & Trinidad

I was told by one of the pioneers of the steelpan that the first pan Spree Simon played he bought from someone from the south of Trinidad. I was told that Spree was the first to play a tune on the pan and Ellie was the first to introduce the concave pan (spider web) but the history of the pan is such that those who know rather die with it than share it. You and I may never know the true history.https://www.sarahpancase.com