Global - ....Bad lighting, bad editing, bad audio and a host of other production issues. Maybe it is time that Pan Trinbago step back and review the products that are released in its name. In a forum thread that was supposed to be focused on the availability of the 2010 DVD produced by Advanced Dynamics for Pan Trinbago - steelpan music aficionados, specialists and collectors slammed the low grade production, and callous attitude and portrayal depicted by the DVDs, of Trinidad and Tobago’s national panorama competition.

click for more

You need to be a member of When Steel Talks to add comments!

Join When Steel Talks

Votes: 0
Email me when people reply –

Replies

  • I agree with this statement. Over the years Pantrinbago has failed to establish their hold on the panworld. You would imagine that Panorama which is their most famous product would be something that they would make an extra effort to produce. They are only interested in making as much money as they could without putting out much. What do they do with the subsidies that they get annually from the Government? The new president also seems to be lost and void of any ideas that would benefit the organisation.I think that the whole organisation needs to be re-structed. They need someone with business ideas who can take them into the future. This year's Panorama DVDs and CDs productions are an example of their lack of scope for the future.
  • Why are we trashing this effort? Sure it's far from perfect but it's still better than what I've seen come out of NY. Some of the WIADCA DVDs are absolutely unwatchable.
    • WIADCA?
      Noah you got jokes. LMAO... The better question is why would an award winning production company not give a similar "effort" for the panorama.
      • I don't just mean WIADCA. I haven't been impressed by ANY of the official NY pan documentation, sorry to say. But that's another discussion for another day.

        Also the point of "in this age of Blackberrys, PS2, etc... the quality should be better" is contrary to the truth... do you think someone watching a video on a handheld device through those dinky speakers cares about 5:1 surround? The truth is, and you could ask any music producer, that today when music is sold as ringtones, videos are compressed and broadcast on youtube, that high fidelity is sadly a thing of the past, at least in the mainstream. Of course most of us people who actively and closely listen to pan are not part of that population, but we are the minority.

        And I wouldn't be too impressed by the statement "award-winning production company"... what award, from whom? For the record, I agree that the quality could be better but I'm not sure if Pan Trinbago cares to put in the money to bring in a higher-end production company. Think about how much money is hemmorraging from that organization as they put on panorama, and then consider the potential returns for such an investment... with piracy, youtube broadcast, etc. in what is already a fairly limited market, well... you do the math... it's a sad statement but it's a reality.
        • Interesting debate here, main problem guys is the venue, we need a proper venue to host the competition in the first place. Once you have a venue that is built to showcase our national instrument on a world class scale then the audio visual production can look to be world class. But with sound and lighting all over the place in the middle of the Savannah what do you expect? I think it is a pretty decent job considering what we are working with.
          • Lorraine, I agree with some of your points except the one that seems to indicate that poor sound and lighting is a result of a venue not built on a world class scale. IMHO, it's all about planning; if they bring in the right people who know what they're doing...lighting will not be a problem and sound will be excellent and your DVD product will be top class...it's all about proper planning. All of these issues should be addressed in a post-panorama meeting to see how the DVD and the Panorama experience can be improved. They may not be able to address all the issues at once, but each year there should be some improvement.
            • yes, agreed.

              venue, sound, and lighting are separate entities. you can have stellar sound in a less than perfect venue, once good quality sound engineers are hired to do that job. i remember long ago seeing ultra-high-quality shows by the likes of Jeff Beck, Al DiMiola, and the Grateful Dead in what were basically oversized barns in Colorado, but the bands themselves brought in their own sound people who had the skillz to make any venue, even those oversized hangars, sound like Carnegie Hall. it can always be done, IF expert sound ppl, who know what they are doing, are hired. but that can only happen IF the event producer is willing to spend the money necessary to HAVE those experts.

              call me crazy, but to me, one would think the SOUND for panorama would be the ultimate priority, and the expense most worthy of greatest expenditure. The music is THE most important part.

              but no, the sound this year was crap. it just was. believe it or not the sound on the CD is vastly superior to what we heard live on finals night; i'm guessing this is cause it was taken right off the soundboard, as opposed to what the audience heard out in the air.
          • Well Lorraine you and many others may not like my response, but business is business. If the Brooklyn Dodgers can leave Brooklyn to go to California - then panorama finals may have to be held in a different country. Nothing personal just business. Pan Trinbago has to find the best deal for its product - "Panorama" the greatest steelband music shoe on earth. The Yankees threatened to leave New York if they didn't get a new stadium. That was just business. Maybe Panorama finals has to held in Antigua or Brazil or Barbadians. Brazil is close to Trinidad and they are building new facilities for the Olympics they just won.

            bugs
            • This doesn't shock or upset me....I think we play lip service to culture in this country only biggin it up when it serves the powers that be. They build and academy for the performing arts before the Carnival Centre, you see where I going....
    • So Noah, is WIADCA the new standard? In the year that AVATAR was released yo the world, and technology is in everybody's hands -- in the home of pan we can do better. Don't you think so? Or are you inferring that the people of Trinidad and Tobago are so feeble-minded and technically incompetent that they can't do any better?

      bugs
This reply was deleted.