Considering my last physical presence on Panorama Semi-finals day was Sunday 13th February 1966 I have to ask this question.
It appears to me that it has now become some sort of "in place to be" but not necessarily there to appreciate the performances.
The growth of the individual rhythm sections cannot be an enhancement to the proceedings or the expirience.
As far as I'm concerned this is a competition for steelbands.
Jab-Jab music is for J'Ouvert morning and should never be allowed to interfere with the performances.
Maybe this is what is killing panorama? I am not against people having fun lord knows the time between bands could be as long as 15 minutes. However this lull in proceedings is not an invitation to take over the show.
Perhaps we need stronger security guards on the gate (sufficiently well paid not to succumb to bribes) to stop patrons entering with percussive instruments.
Maybe we need to have the instruments already on stage and all bands use the same pans. I think we're sufficiently advanced to be able to have standard set-ups for all the instruments. after all the pans are already tuned by only and handfull of people so we immediately get rid of the judges having to worry about tonal quality
What do you think?
Replies
As a pan player for many years feeling the energy of the light as it hits you on the savannah stage as the arranger knocks
the four count to start you get that rush like no other...that is panorama.. and the only other people that feels that is the true pan lover that comes to hear us play...what is going on now is so much different all those limer in the north stand is johnney come lately. those west morring valley people who just out to show off there green or yellow tshirts with their company names on them and tring to out do the next group about who have the biggest rhythm section and who could play the loudest. that's all it is, none of them come to listen to the bands play is ah big lime for most of them , and if a band is coming on stage you can't hear the tune they about to play on the speakers bacause they tring to out beat the group next to them, the north stand use to be for those who couldn't afford the price for the grand stand , the north was the next choice on those hard iron chairs. now everybody and they grandmother rushing over to the north stand for the big lime not for the pan because most of them don't even know what band or what tune going to play. the corporations took it over from the true pan lover . so sad...
I am sick to death of corporate entertainment boxes and enclosures but unfortunately that's where the money is.
The type of people it attracts will never appreciate anything because they haven't had to pay for it. If the north stand has descended to the corporate entertainment level then I would definitely ban anyone from entering with percusive instruments. most ah dem ain't got no talent anyway.
Pan trinbago could quite easily get away with that because the money is already in the bank. Paid for by the companies. So who cares what the fools like?
The only good thing about selling to corporates is that you could lock them into a fix term have your money up front. Upto 5 years in advance if you wish.
They do it at Wimbledon Tennis so it's not new.
It also creates a good speculative market for trading, just like debentures.
It's like having a cash cow. Ha Ha!
I think that your suggestion ("all bands use the same pans") is MUCH TOO ADVANCED for the pan movement. It will have to begin with an off-panorama concert where 5 to 10 bands just show up and play on ONE standard set of pans prearranged on stage, with the show lasting no more than two hours.
Once the public buys into such performances, the panorama bands might follow the lead and implement your suggestion which also happens to be my long-term fantasy for pan also.
Claude and whosoever think that 1 os 2 sets of pans can be used for a competition is dead wrong. It's like a car or machinery that someon operates. Have you ever lent out your car and when it was returned it wasn't the same. It felt different. The person that used your car made some adjustments to suit him or herself. The same goes for the Pan. Boy! I don't want nobody else to play MY Pan you know. although most belong to the Bands, one person is assigned to play that particular instrument. That player takes care of the Pan for the season or as long as he is involved in the Band.
Would you like to play the Pan, lets say after Boogsie or 'BJ Marcelle have played that pan? No disrespect to you Boogsie and BJ, I am just making a point. You two fit in perfectly for 2 reasons. Firstly, Boogsie and BJ know how to play that pan 'hard' They have the experience to hit the note at the correct spot, the spot where the note is perfect. Mind you I am not in agreement to anyone 'beating' the pan hard. Anyhow, there are other players who like to hit the notes but not in the correct spot and that is where the the notes of the pan would be off-tuned and would need re-tuning/blending.
A good, well tuned pan, can hold it's tone for many years as long as one player is playing the instrument. The more a pan is re-tuned or blended, the weaker it gets and sooner than later the notes will not last. Remember the notes are made from stretched metal. The deeper the pan the thinner the metal gets, the weaker it becomes. Remember the 'tic toc? we used to play withy long time whick goes 'tic Toc..tic toc.. Soon the metal of the tic toc became weak and itsplits and that was it. The Pan and the tuning of its notes use the same principles as far as the beating in and beating out is concerned. That is why we have to avoid blending our pans too much. Sooner or later the notes would not stay and the pan has to be discarded.
back to 1 or 2 sets of pans preset for performances, it cannot work. after 5 or so Bands have played, the notes would become off-tuned and there would be dis-advantag to the Bands playing lower down the order.. I would stop here for now
Yes They told columbus if he goes too far he will fall off!
If I remeber correctly he didn't pay them no mind he carried on.
One of the results of this perseverance is guess what? STEELPAN yes! as so many people like to remind us the only instrument invented in the 20th centuary.
Ok I started the argument/discussion so it's only fair I should reply
Yes, I have not visited the north stand since 1966 on semi-final day; but I have used it on finals night 2005 2006 (No, I did not go to Sando when the whole thing was moved there) I have also visited the bands as they practiced on finals night on the bull track 2010 but the atmosphere on finals night is very much different to the semis.
But and this is a very large but, it's one thing to enjoy one's self and entertain one's self while waiting on the next band but not to the extent that players who put in all the hard work to get there have to wait until some unruly bunch of hooligans decide it's time to let them perform. That can never ever be right.
So if you don't think sharing instruments is a valid or viable alternative then the powers that be must be strong enough to bring the noise to an end as soon as the next band is ready. I think the rhythm sections should be confined to an area behind the toilets where they cannot have an adverse effect on the performances.
Yes I was one of those who indulged in and participated in the iron beating but that was after inter-col finals when we took over town if QRC won but that never interfered with pannist.
Pan is serious business. If you want it to succeed you have to be seen to be paying it utmost respect.
So again I ask "what is the purpose of the North Stand?"
As for the ticket touts? well a bullpistle would solve that problem. Oh I forgot we now live in a more civilized society so we can't beat up ticket touts but we can let crime escalate to shootings of the innocent. Ah well that's progress for you. That’s for another forum though
Let’s listen to more pan, play de pan boy!
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