Last night arranger after arranger lamented and complained about the dismal state of affairs as it relates to the shortage of players for the panorama season. It was also clear that it is having an affect on the quality of the panorama product. As the announcer said last night, there were clearly bands that were not ready to perform in an internationally broadcasted event.

50 plus years later the Trinidad and Tobago panorama product should be better than ever. It should not be struggling.

So why is there a player shortage? Is it time for Pan Trinbago to admit it doesn't know how to fix the problem?

bugs

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

  • There has been some discussion during the panorama broadcast about the shortage of pan players , and the fact that the players play with multiple bands, moving from band to band, sometimes in groups.

    I'm thinking  this should be an obvious result of the  way the panorama is structured .

    Firstly , the panist only has to learn one tune per band , since the band is seldom practicing anything else but the panorama tune.

    Secondly , there are several  categories (maybe too many?) so a player could easily belong to a band in each category , and only have to learn four tunes.

    A good panist could fairly easily learn four tunes over a carnival season ( I thing even me , with my hard head could have done it :) ) , especially if the practice times could be somehow coordinated.

    I think that there just may be a bit of a racket here , but I support if arrangers could arrange for more than one category , why not players ?

    It just may be that there are two many steelbands  especially in the smaller band categories, all trying to get some of those panorama dollars.  

  • Let me throw out a radical thought here .

    After all this is the forum for it.

    If , as many seem to insist , the emphasis of steelbands should be in making money , and not about culture , then it would seem to me that there are too many steelbands and too many pan players in Trinidad , not too few.

    Once we start thinking in terms of business , then then laws of supply and demand will certainly apply.

    Think on that , pan people.

    • Money making & culture are not necessarily separate things. Cultutal assets can

      be used to generate income if properly managed. The Opera & Ballet houses in

      the UK, USA, France & Italy, as well as the music industry & film industry worldwide

      make tons of money, simply because the are well organised and marketed. This is

      sorely lacking in Trinidad. 

      • Ah yes, Anthony Corbin, but how many Operas , Ballet houses and Symphony Orchestras are there ?

        Take any big city , like New York or London  which have populations many times that of T&T , and see how many of these cultural assists exist per population.

        You'll find that the number of steelbands in T&T far exceeds the number of Symphony Orchestras , Ballets  and Operas you'll find in these big , highly populated cities.

        And BTW , these cultural entities , unlike the film industry which is big business, do NOT make "tons of money".

        Many of them  are supported by wealthy sponsors , and by corporate, private and public endowments, which would include taxpayers dollars.

        This is considered supporting the arts, which also includes making sure that the artists are paid!. 

    • Good point of view Glenroy.

  • Why are Some People against the Small - Medium and Large Bands? Its not Fair. We are gifted with thousands of Pan Players. If as You say its an Eat a Food thing. Why should only Big Bands Eat all the Food. We are very Diverse. Many Young People now will get the experience of How it was in Our time. We cant cater only for the Big Bands. Its Like telling Valentino - Chalkdust -Cro Cro and others not too sing Traditional Calypsoes Because we Now Have Soca. I think its a very good Idea which should be Managed Better.

    • Hello VALENTINE YOUNG, if you are looking at panorama as a competition and most important seeking the Champion Steelband for that year, then having all these categories is basically eliminating that achievement. At this time VOLUME is the only factor between the medium bands and the large bands. Which means there will be no 'true' panorama champion for the year. It can be possible to have these categories, if 1. A player need to be dedicated to one steelband. No hopping around. If you agree with hopping around to as many bands as you like. Please don't call it a competition. Call it eat ah food. Try hopping throughout the year instead.There is always laws and procedures for any competition.

  • It's a shame
  • Bugs you make a lot of sense, today the whole structure is designed to kill the ability to produce quality arrangers and  pan players for panorama. I personally cannot point to one young panorama arranger that would encourage me to enjoy listening to their panorama arrangement. Andre White do have potential. All lack the art of creating sweet music for pan. All we are hearing today is the players can now read music blah blah blah blah, and what? The young pan arrangers presently are worst off arranging a panorama tune compared the young arrangers of the 60's thru the 80's. Having small band, medium band and large band categories is creating  eat ah food mentality and mediocrity in the panorama art form. Also, I don't think many youths (should be an age limit) should be allowed to play in panorama, since there are the school panorama competitions. When Ray and Boogsie were very young arrangers you would stay all night and listen to their band, the music was always sweet, and they were going up against big time arrangers.

  • The shortage of players today is just another sign of an art form that terminally ill and very close to the end. Years of neglect to the Steelband has made it almost non existent in carnival, now Panorama is in jeopardy because of lack of interest.

    T&T has out grown the steelband, we have a society today that don't want the it, people complain of the noise it makes in the night, politicians have them taken out of their communities and have them placed in industrial areas away from people. Over the years we have certainly done enough to prevent it's growth. T&T did not do well by the Steelband.

This reply was deleted.