Steel Pan Music, An Art Like No Other

By Donald Williams


Music had changed so much over time. But the love of the people for it remains unmatched among the rest in art. Whether you are working or taking a break from it, you would want your headset on or turn the radio on to tune in to a station playing your favorite songs. Wherever you go, be it in coffee shops or just any store, you will still hear it playing.

To play it however, is something much more complex, as not too many can do it. But then there are others who are just so good. And because of that, music had evolved with so many instruments and various genres. Easily, pop is the most common. And the likes of steel pan music is not unheard of, although not as popular.

But the few who does, appreciates it well enough to know how versatile it can be. And the instrument is not something easy to learn. It would take an experienced musician to play it, because this kind of thing is much more complex than just listening to songs. Or playing the string instruments.

Sometimes referred to as steel drums, they emerged somewhere in the nineteen thirties. Some metal objects like paint pots, including car parts, dust bins and oil drums were widely used as percussion instruments but somehow, artists found a way to tune them. Over the years, there have been several version of its development that it is difficult to get the exact date.

Its early years did not come easy. The noise it involved and the effect upon others brought forth an association with criminal prosecutions. Its popularity in the Caribbean at the time seemed to create a kind of effect on the youth that was so much different than how rock and roll was in the 60s. However the fact that it made people want to dance even if the music was over, was undeniable.

But even that had not been enough to avoid clashes between groups and enthusiasts, resulting in violence. Thankfully, it did not went on for long because as pioneers excelled in developing it, horizons had been brighter and steel drums suddenly had a good future ahead and along with other genres. Even the war could not stop people from appreciating it.

It had, over time, went on to greater heights, being sent to Britain as a part of an important event. That was where it gained and established international acclaim. And then went on to become as an art form widely accepted. It also identified the pan as a type of music that shaped the Trinidadian culture, earning acceptance and respectability.

Thereafter, it became stronger than ever, being introduced at various international and national festivals, even being played before the Queen of England when she came to visit. An association maintaining it, went on to provide activities specializing its kind of music. The pan movement became more widely known and organized.

Being an integral part of social life, even everyday life, there seems to be no end as to how songs or rhythm in instruments like steel drums will be created. It is part of the culture and identity of almost any country. And the pan is one nice lesson to remember how it can be as revolutionary as it is artistic.




About the Author:



0 comments:

Post a Comment

Archives