In Trinidad and Tobago the home of Steelband (Pan),
the instrument is generally viewed as seasonal and is synonymous with
Carnival. Outside Trinidad and Tobago, New York has the largest pool of Pan
players and Pan here has a different outlook; being in the Music Mecca
of the Northern Hemisphere there is an international feel, and the sense that
Pan is continually "going places".
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The World of... PAN IN NEW YORK |
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Not only is Pan the only instrument to be invented
in the 20th century – but as quietly as it is kept – it is the
fastest growing acoustic instrument, and the one of choice, especially among
youths. Across the North American continent – Boston, Los Angeles, Baltimore,
Chicago, Toronto, and of course – New York, (where in the Brooklyn area alone
within the last twenty years, there have been at least ten thousand Pan
players who picked up the instruments mainly in their teenage years and
younger) other than SAMPLING and/or MUSICAL PRODUCTION, no other musical instrument or phenomenon
can be said to have captured the awareness and imagination of such a large
number of would be and eventual pannists.
In the Brooklyn area community schools, where funding for
traditional musical instruments is not always available – the steel pan has thus become
the instrument that can be more easily acquired, because of the sometimes
comparable economics of
acquisition, and also fascinates the instrument's would be protégées. Even though by and large the majority of the student body may be
African American, this instrument -Pan- is being played with equal gusto by
students who are not of that heritage. As a major contribution to the musical
landscape, New York creates a unique environment for Pan, where it is being
used in miscellaneous musical productions.
The Pan movement in New York is a living testimony
to a black culture, documenting its striving as a sub culture, undeniably
impacting on the larger, more acceptable commercialized music scene,
evidenced by the very embrace of this instrument by key musical forces e.g. Earth
Wind and Fire, Bill Withers, L'il Kim.
By its very existence Pan testifies to and is a
documentation of survival – in hostile environments ranging from the weather
not being always conducive to practice and storage conditions, to harassment
of Pan players by miscellaneous authorities who place restrictions on
practice times, and also periodically raid Pan yards and either
confiscate, permanently block access to practice areas with instruments still
inside, or seize and destroy Pans. These scenes are ironic mirrors of
the struggles of the Pan players in Trinidad and Tobago who were also
looked upon as undesirables. But moreover the struggle of Black Music in
general is mirrored. From Gospel to Jazz to Funk to Rap, it has always been an
uphill battle and Black Music has always swum against the tide. Acceptance of
anything "by the masses" which credited Black people with intelligence
was, and is
essentially still silently taboo, and in this case, that is true of Pan music.
Historically native and inherent instruments were taken
away from the African upon enslavement to break their bond with their legacy, the
inner strength of a
proud people. The most poignant expression and main form of communication,
the talking drums was a casualty of this repression. Resilience and
determination prevailed and logs or anything that emitted sound, replaced the
drums. Much in this tradition, the survival of Pan and Pan players continues.
The NY pan scene has been popularizing instrumental music
which has taken a back seat to the limelight in recent years. Outside of
musical scores, or New Wave artists, awareness of instrumentation solely has
been highlighted only by Pan.
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The World of... PAN IN NEW YORK |
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Always present and indomitable is the spirit of the Pan
player – who always rises up, conquers and uses the instrument once more to
chronicle the journey of… the Pan player in New York.
The construction of steel pan as an instrument is in
itself a technological marvel. That so many musical tones emanate from just
one surface crafted with multiple impressions, is characteristic only of
Pan. The tuners who elicit the harmonics, musical timbres and ranges
exhibit a scientific wizardry crucial to the creation of each instrument.
Pan in New York
is taking advantage of technology for
multimedia representations, such as the newly-offered wide bandwidth on the
home network products, which allows for high speed transmission that results
in excellent real time audio files, and video reproduction that is High
Definition Television (HDTV) ready. In addition, all audio files are in
24-bit format and encoded for 5.1 surround sound. Files are currently in the MP3 format for quick and universal access. People who interact with
Pan in New York
can fully exploit cable/internet ready products by directly accessing and/or
downloading text, audio and video files, while taking advantage of Internet
ready devices and wireless technology.
Pan in New York
will provide automatic updates on software and existing Pan
information via the Internet. The resulting synergy between emerging
technologies gives the user the unprecedented power to take part in his/her own
education that is both interactive and entertaining.
