Sweet Sweet Pan.

Steelpan's Musical Journey

The journey started way back in the second half of the 1930s
Used oil drums permitted subtle and complex harmonies.
Skin drums and Tamboo Bamboo bands were outlawed
The quest for cleaner and sharper tones could not be flawed.
Carnival Revelers craved for some rhythm to party.
Innovative minds set to work and created pan music and its melodies.

In the 1940s, steelpan music was associated with criminal prosecutions.
This music is infectious, uninhibiting and unveiled many revelations.
There were band clashes and a great deal of inter-band rivalry.
Wanton violence raised its ugly head, periodically.
Pan men were treated as common hooligans.
Society turned a blind eye to their skills as musicians.

The 1950s saw steelpan achieve major progress.
Sending TASPO to the UK proved to be a great success.
Pan was identified as an important element in the cultural fabric of T&T.
This greatly enhanced its social respectability.
The infectious and beguiling sounds captured the polite and staid British.
Resulting in an international exposure and acceptability of Pan’s meritoriousness.  

The 1960s saw the first National Steelband Panorama Competition.
Ten steelbands competed at the February 1963 inauguration. 
North Stars, Invaders, Sundowners, Desperadoes and Modern Sunland.
City Symphony, Casablanca, Starlift, San Juan All Stars and Wonderland.
The Steelbands Association organised the first Steelband Music Festival. 
The steelpan movement became more established with less bacchanal.

The 1970’s saw new horizons for the instrument and its music’s progress.
The pan culture adopted different strains of development to transgress. 
Composing and playing own compositions at the National Panorama.
Boogsie Sharpe, Robbie Greenidge and Ken Philmore revealed their natural aura.
Pan music was attracting a younger audience.
Pan and its culture were oozing with an astounding ambience.

The 1980s saw pan as a widely accepted art form.
Steelbands springing up around the globe became a norm.
Educational institutions included pan in their curriculum.
Steelpan in the emergence of world music was the ultimatum.
Pan virtuosos revealed their dexterity through their excellence.
The Pan machinery adopted new methods to enhance its influence.

The 1990s have brought insight and reality to the pan.
Pan pioneers are comforted, as development is going to plan.
Computerisation of pan’s technology is developing.
The use of music sheets by pannists is evolving.
Steelpan plays a significant role in Trinbago’s society.
It brings together its many races under an umbrella of unity.

The new Millennium has only just begun.
Like an infant, you must walk before you run.
Exporting Trinbago’s pan culture will increase its overall visibility.
Proper planning, timely execution and solid investment are necessities.
Pan’s creation and journey of recognition occurred in the last millennium.      
With bated breath, we wait to see what’s in store for it in this new millennium. 

by Robbie Joseph