Long Ago when you hear a Steel Band playing on the radio and you don't know the tune they are playing, You will know if it is Starliff or Invaders or despers or Fonclaire playing; and even on the drag for Panorama when a Band strikes up in the distance you will know if its Tokyo or Exodus by the Tonal Quality of their Instruments . But now if you never heard some Bands practice before Panorama you have to ask who is that playing or you make out the band by their unique canopies or their members t shirts Is it that Bands do not have a resident Tuner anymore or most of the Bands have the same Tuners Tuning and Blending their Instruments or all Pans will be Standardised and have the same Tonal Quality in the future.
You need to be a member of When Steel Talks to add comments!
Replies
Concerning the stalwart arrangers, I agree that they defined the tone and the music. Any band Ray Holman touched, you got a distinct tone and expression. Think about Tokyo "My Band", Exodus "Pan Woman" and Hummingbird Pan Groove "Steelband Paradise", to recall my own favourites.
I think that the Distinct Sound from a Band is not really from the Tone of the Pan but by the way Arrangers used to Arrange their music.
If you have 6 Bands that Guppy and Kellman tune for and Junior Pouchet arrange for one of those bands, you will be able to tell "That is Silver Stars" or Junior arranged for that band, Its his Style, his Identity, nowadays some arrangers copying from others instead of having their own identity.
Bede there was a time when many bands had a distinctive tone......which comes from the tuning of the instruments.The musical style would change with a different arranger,but the "tone" remained the same.
If you had a Wallace sound,it sounded different to a Mannette sound, who sounded different to a Marshall,who sounded different to a Kellman.It like being able to differentiate between a Farfisa ,a Yamaha,a Korg or a Hammond keyboard,whosoever is the arranger and/or the player.
We lost pan on the road. No more strumming and chipping for hours. The old tuners are gone and the little pockets of settlements that defined our old communities are also going or gone. In San Fernando the Coffee, Upper Hillside, Lower Hillside, Carlton Lane, Navet, Panco Lane, Mt Moriah Rd, Springvale, Broadway, Mucurapo Street - and then you move along Pointe-a Pierre Road and you get Vistabella, Circular Road, Marabella - All these areas produced pansides, football teams, top sportsmen. I am wondering if these communities still exist.
That is so very true.why and how did this happen. I remember the experience of being able to know which band was passing even in the distance even on carnival day. Hm!
Earl,there was a time when every big band had their "in house" tuner and most times he would also be the band arranger,and from that came the Band's "tone".These "in house" tuners spent maximum time with their band and accented some notes,based on the tune they played in Panorama.He also blended the whole band or dictated what sound he wanted.
This no longer happens for a number of reason,chiefly the death of many of our most experienced tuners and sinkers within a short space of time.......it has been said that many of these tuners/sinkers health complications/eventual death came about because of the shortage of drums (late 70s-mid 80s) and they began using and burning drums that contained ,Toluene Diisocyanate,also known as TDI......and called " To Die Immediate~lie" by TT foam industry workers.This is a very dangerous chemical and the tuners/sinkers were not aware of those dangers.We aslo loss some masters like Coker, Zoogsie," Madman" Jordan and Norman.
Now most bands are using the few top tuners that remain,so the "Tone" you speak about is almost the same. I suspect as the younger tuners achieve their distinctive sounds,and they are taken up by the leading bands......the differences in "tone" (as you put it) would be more pronounced again.
Well said , Oswald.
And don't underestimate the influence of the Panorama competition , which encouraged bands to copy from each other , use the same arrangers and arranging philosophies, and the same top tuners instead of allowing their own tuners and arrangers to develop their own distinctive style and sound from within the band..
And I must also mention that as a pan player from the old days , I don't think we appreciated the amount of work done by the core group of steelband leaders in the old days to put a steelband "on the road".
This usually included the band's leader , tuner and arranger , who in many instances was the same person
"And I must also mention that as a pan player from the old days , I don't think we appreciated the amount of work done by the core group of steelband leaders in the old days to put a steelband "on the road"."
Glenroy,I hold many of these men as true heroes of their communities......they gave so much of themselves,to elevate their communities self esteem,but unfortunately most were largely under or not appreciated,misunderstood, or looked upon as outcasts.
Well said brother.
earl, when you sit in the stands listening to panorama you observe that Burch Kellerman and Hermon Guppy Brown are the tuners in 95% of the bands, however I find that some bands still have a distinct sound, I can still identify Phase ll Despers. Skiffle. These days most bands have excellent instruments and players so everything is up to their arrangement and execution in the finals.
I truly hope it is not so. Boston Symphony and the London Symphony still have a distinct sound and they are all playing the same compositions and in many cases the conductors serve time in each other camp. Yes, i truly hope your observations do not become a reality. #bostoncarnivalvillage