Can someone please explain the "logic" behind this trend of "thought"?:
The steelbands were considered by society as being hooligans playing NOISY instruments. The electronic "pans" will make the steelbands more acceptable by society, because they will be able to make LOUDER sounds.
(Wasn't "noise" the issue, in the first place? And if so, why would becoming louder be the solution to society's "noise" complaints?)
The proponents for the removal of the steel drum/pan, do not care about logic, nor about making sense. They have a particular agenda, and will use ANY and EVERY argument against the instrument they have ALWAYS hated! (I believe that it is wrapped up in racist attitudes, but YOU be the judge.) This is why, you would not hear them speaking in terms of "eras", when it comes to tassa or tabla; NONE of them are saying that the time for electronic tassas or electronic tablas is here, or that the "era" of those instruments have met their shelf lives. (And, please do not tell me that there are MIDI sounds that produce tabla and tassa tones, because there have been MIDI steel drum/pan tones for decades.) They are proposing replacement of the instrument, and for different reasons, and with different agendas, the latter of which they think are hidden, but are revealed the more they expose their "opinions". Some CANNOT make a single comment, without inserting these electronic plastic (fake) replicas, because their obsession takes over their very being, as if possessed.
I have ZERO tolerance and ZERO respect for these (what I will ALWAYS term as) "agents". Agents of the Devil, for NO God-loving human being, ESPECIALLY one from Trinidad and Tobago, would EVER seek out to try, convict, and sentence to death, the God-given instrument of which we were blessed as "Trinbagonians". I consider those who sit in silence and allow these "agents" to continue their assault on our "pan culture", as being enablers; aides and abettors of the enemies of the steel drum/pan and its "Movement". These "agents" will continue the assault, until the steelbands (as we know them) are a FOREVER thing of the past, while the tassa and tabla will continue on their God-given paths into posterity; handed down from Indo-Trinbagonian generation to Indo-Trinbagonian generation. The steel drum, because they KNOW it is an Afro-Trinidadian "invention", is targeted, as are the people who created it. These are the realities, and burying our heads in the sand, only exposes...(you know what).
In keeping with the Goddard legacy, I will continue to counterattack these "agents", and I will continue to do so with or without any support. At the end of it all, history WILL record ALL our efforts (and non-efforts). As the saying goes, by his (or her) deeds, a man (or woman) will be known...Over the next few months, I will begin inviting you all to begin a process of re-ignition of the Steelband Movement. Keep in mind, that it was the "movement" that gave the steelbands (and the instrument) the respect, organization, unity, vision, and power they once claimed. These were not given to them; they TOOK it! They became a powerful lobby, and one of the larger "unions". We MUST return to that unified state, where, collectively we define and decide when (and if) pan "dies". Stop being fooled into thinking that the P.H.I. or the E-Pan are part of the evolutionary process of the instrument. They are not. Neither do they, nor will they ever benefit the steelbands and the masses of panmen and panwomen of Trinidad and Tobago. It should be evident by looking at the recent division of ownership of the P.H.I., a "project" funded by taxpayers' dollars. Of course, the Attorney General has his own issues, when it comes to questionable practices.
We MUST also resist the insertion of "class" in the steelbands, where the "elite" live lavish lifestyles, and the masses remain in perpetual poverty. The EVIDENCE is clear that when my dad served as President of the Steelbands Association, the National Association of Trinidad and Tobago Steelbandsmen (NATTS), and Pan Trinbago, he did so under (GET THIS) "voluntary status". In other words, he was NOT COMPENSATED (not ONE red penny) for his decades of service as leader of the three steelbands' unions! Keep that in mind, when you listen to these neo-colonialists, and neo-capitalists, who pose under the disguises of "friend", "supporter", and, in some cases reincarnated "gods" with "spiritual" and "prophetic" words. Pan Trinbago will continue to fail the masses, because they shifted away from the "union" model, and are now functioning, basically, as a "government-appointed" (whatever that means) private entity, where the shareholders alone stand to benefit financially. This capitalist model and thinking, will continue to reward the enemies of the Steelband Movement, while continuing to exploit the local panmen and panwomen of Trinidad and Tobago, and their "pan culture". So, now that they have "invented" computer-generated replacements, they can exploit the sound, without having to deal with the instrument and its people. Of, course, one can look at the make-up of the steelbands, even today, and see which "racial" group will be most affected, in terms of proportions and percentages.
In the meantime, musicians, engineers, and "musicologists" from other countries like Japan, Sweden, and the US, will continue to study, learn, manufacture and market the VERY steel drum/pan, that the "agents" have eulogized. They are now the "authorities" on pan; from manufacture to history, and from performance to methodology. They create and publish (for profit) the score sheets. They define what a "Panorama tune" should sound like, and they have the "Last Word". They learn your "culture", then come back and tell you what your "culture" is or should be. They are (pan) Gods and "honorary Trinis", because they help promote "we culture". They have more rights, and receive more love than the born-and-bred "son of the soil" who resides out of the country just as do their "honorary Trinis", yet they call the expatriated citizen a "foreigner". Celebrity, money, and power are the respected values in our society, and voluntary public service to country means nothing, because there is nothing of "value" on which the money-hungry, power-thirsty, and status-climber can leech on to. In this parasitic environment, those who truly care about our culture, will attempt to identify, expose, and remove these pan parasites, or as I call them: PANASITES! At least, that is what I try to do. More Power To The (true) Pan People!
Replies
Lunacy, is thinking that ten people playing the electronic pan could "fit-in" with the DJs in ah band.
Lunacy, is trying to convince people that it's just a matter of turning up the volume.
Lunacy, is not recognizing the importance of the steelband in carnival
Lunacy, is reducing the once mighty steelband to a mere side show when it was the MAIN ATTRACTION.
Lunacy, is 30-40 people playing pan on a float and trying to tell us this is the modern steelband.
Lunacy, is putting the blame on the youth, saying that they don't want steelband on the road.
Lunacy, is saying the days of the large steelband is over.
The LOGICAL thing to do is have an open dialogue about the Steelband [not pan] in the Mecca
George,
The Steelpan and the Steelband do not fit in with life-style in the modern Mecca, this is why they don't want panyards around their high-rise condos, they find fault with the steelband on the road and have lost the passion we had for this part of our culture. [IN AH NUTSHELL]