First of all, allyuh SWEAR that PAN COULD PLAY ANY KINDA MUSIC -- but now man complaining that the CROP OF CALYPSOS this year NOT RIGHT FOR PAN.

And the second thing that really confuses me is how PAN PLAYERS could spend so many THOUSANDS OF HOURS practicing on THE PAN -- and yet nobody doh hear nothing coming back from the PAN and cyar compose a decent piece of music. That just means that PAN PLAYERS just play the notes they are given to play in the PAN YARD without ever understanding what they are playing. I thought that went out since the 50's and 60's.

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  • Lord Kitchener - Old Time Calypso

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  • DOCTOR DeLight: I have a rule on THIS FORUM where I do not allow people to draw me out. But I am going to break THAT RULE just for you -- since I consider you to be the ONLY REAL INTELLECTUAL that ever came on THIS FORUM. And I have considerable respect for you!!!

    So here we go!!!

    I CANNOT PLAY THE PAN. And I am probably the WORST MUSIC STUDENT in THE WORLD. But I have owned one or two or three PANS over the decades. I never learned to play THE PAN but instead I ended up spending a considerable amount of time just RUNNING SCALES and CHORDS (arpeggios) around the PAN. (Circumnavigating all the KEYS and not circumventing any -- our little private joke.)

    For example, in the key of E, I would play E G# B Eb F# A C# E -- backward and forward with different speeds and different rhythmic patterns. And in the process of running those arpeggios (especially the MAJOR CHORD of the ROOT) over and over again (and sometimes the I IV V or I II V progression arpeggios) -- STUFF BEGINS TO FALL OUT.

    What do I mean by STUFF BEGINS TO FALL OUT? You start hearing pieces of OLD CALYPSOS being rung out by accident; and after a while ORIGINAL MELODIES begin to fall out of THE PAN; and you start to see what the original composers were doing; and then you start THINKING OUT THE MUSIC.

    Once again, I am the worst music student in the world and I ended up composing a few CALYPSOS just from THAT PRACTICE. And that is NOT MY THING!!! So with all the HOURS and HOURS (and years) those PAN MEN spend BENDING OVER THAT PAN -- I have to repeat that I am surprised to see that so little falls out in terms of COMPOSITION. So they must be just playing notes that PEOPLE TELL THEM TO PLAY!!!

    I am not going to address my first point and the ISSUE OF DECAY in the STEEL PAN -- and how that DECAY limits the musical scope of THE PAN.

    Now you know why I always keep asking on THIS FORUM: WHERE IS THE MUSIC?

    Yuh come and get me in TROUBLE NOW!!!

    • Claude!!! Nice of you to share with us your experience of practicing with the National Instrument of T&T the Steel Pan, Do not stop keep on running those Scales Chords and Arpeggios and very soon you will become one of Beverly Crackshots  Playing for more than one band in the same category. Like the old saying, If you cannot beat them then join them.

  • Sir Claudius:

    Was it not Kitch who voiced, in one of his gems: "Pan cud play anything"?  I think I would agree with him.

    And over the last several years, with a few exceptions, 'pan has been playing anything' ... probably because of the paucity of good tunes?

    However, I firmly believe that PAN PLAYERS, while they do strive assiduously to play the notes given them by their respective arrangers, do very much understand what they are playing. 

    Buh say wot? Ah cud be "WRONG AGAIN".  :-)

    • Lord Kitchener - Symphony On The Street

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