By Dillon Goring --
Published in full with expressed permission of the author
In a 2019 article on thingsguyana.com, an online magazine, Andrew Tyndall in his post as Mashramani Coordinator said:
“In the early 50s, almost every community had a steel band, particularly pan tuners, a movement that took the country by storm. However, the number of steel bands in the latter half of the ‘80s and ‘90s began to diminish and continued to. This was caused by the different routes used to create and manage a band. In the ‘50s, tuners were once considered the owners of the band, but over time band managers and musical composers became a must…The cost for procuring the instruments became a challenge and even the cost for maintaining the instruments became a challenge, so you saw a decline in the number of the bands and, as a result, a decline in the interest of the art form.”
The Pepperpot Magazine spoke with Mr. Clayton Daniels, a pan tuner who has been involved in both the tuning and playing of pan music for the past 25 years.
According to Daniels, the survival of pan music in Guyana hinges mainly on the promotion of the music via radio, concerts and the teaching of the music in schools.
“ Steel band in Guyana normally survives from the school system. You graduate from the school system and move into the bigger band. Since the coronavirus came about, all of that has been ceased…There is competition next month [February], but it would be a small competition,” Daniels told the Guyana Pepperpot Magazine.
The Future of Pan Music
“What we have right now…there aren’t any person training in the art form, but we need to go into the communities, because a lot of youths are home. Our failure to do that would result in us losing the art form slowly,” Daniels noted .
Daniels believes that the art form is a very nice form to get into as it serves as a deterrent from trouble and it is a skill that persons could utilise anywhere around the world.
But according to him, he also believes that for its survival, the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and other institutions must go all out in the promotion of the art form.
The private sector, according to him, must play a major role in the promotion of steel pan music through financial support as well, Daniels opined.
Developing the love for pan music
“ When I came out of the school system [North Ruimveldt Multilateral School], there is where I was inspired to start playing steel pan. Every person that plays steel pan in this country came out of the school system, that is where its starts”, Daniels told the Pepperpot Magazine.
Daniels made mention of the fact that he believes that the support is the missing factor for the love of the music.
“ You need the government, restart events in the country that supports steelpan music. Put the bands out there, restart Steel Band concerts, thus recreating a love for steel band music for members of the public,” Daniels noted during his interview with the Pepperpot Magazine .
Daniels, however, holds the view that incentives also need to be given for the musicians.
He also believes and was careful to note that, despite the decline, there is still a lot of work is being done for the performance of steel bands around the country.
These include outfitting the performers with uniforms, transportation to move the band from one point to another and other factors.
He added that the government‘s support is critical and needed.
Daniels originated from the community of East La Penitence, and attended the North Ruimveldt Multilateral School where he became involved in pan music from the tender age of 11.
“Pan music for me is a kind of a relief. For someone who has had a depressing day, the sound of pan music serves to relax you. Pan music is like going to the gym. When you want to alleviate stress, you go to the gym and work out,” Daniels was quoted as saying.
According to the pan player, steel pan should commence in the primary schools just as it is done in the twin-sland Republic of Trinidad & Tobago.
Pan music originated in Trinidad, where the pan was born out of the necessity to form musical instruments to assist in the celebrations in Port-of-Spain that followed the end of the First World War.The Casablanca, an eight-peace combo, headed by Big Bay Williams, was the first steel band formed in Guyana.
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Given the long history of STEELBAND DEVELOPMENT in GUYANA, the country is now in a position to become THE WORLD LEADER in PRODUCING THE INSTRUMENTS and exporting both INSTRUMENTS and STEELBAND MUSIC. But you need leaders with vision who can see the GLOBAL POTENTIAL of the INSTRUMENT and chart a GLOBAL COURSE.
Not going to happen in TRINIDAD; not going to happen in GUYANA.