PLAYING THE WORLD STAGE WITH OUR NATIONAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT

Mark Loquan, composer and Simeon L. Sandiford, Managing Director, Sanch Electronix Limited are pleased to announce their launch of Pan in Education, a dual compact disc, on October 11, 2005 at Queen’s Hall, St. Ann’s. This is the first of a series of unique, innovative, feature-packed, cost-effective and timeless cultural products aimed at contributing towards the economic sustainability of our National Musical Instrument, the Steelpan.

The executive producers Loquan and Sandiford envision the project as a means of supplementing the nation’s music education programme in schools. Sanch Electronix, distributor of the product, has further expanded their original concepts into a Master Plan for Educational Development of the instrument in the global arena. The main focus will be countries where the Steelpan has already been incorporated into the education curriculum in a structured way, namely the 53 members of the Commonwealth, Finland, Japan, China, the United States of America and Switzerland.

One phase of the Pan In Education project will inculcate technical and social aspects of the Steelpan into the secondary and tertiary curricula using Information and Communication Technology (ICT). An ICT instrument for teaching is the double compact disc, the first of which consists of on-location recordings of arrangements of Loquan’s compositions performed by various steel orchestras of Trinidad and Tobago and Finland.

The second CD contains digital files that include the musical scores, computerized using Finale Music Program 2002, highlighting individual parts to be played by various Steelpan instruments. The scores are also available in other computer-friendly formats such as PDF and MIDI. Clips of the original songs are presented as MP3 files. Notes on Caribbean Rhythms as well as a comparison between the ranges of instruments of the steel orchestra and those of the conventional symphony orchestra are included.
Another phase of the exercise will focus on honing our music industry components into viable business ventures.

For example, through institutional strengthening of the Copyright Organisation of Trinidad and Tobago, royalties due to intellectual property owners will be collected and disseminated on a timely basis. The importance of this exercise is underscored by the fact that World Carnivals rely heavily on the music of Trinidad and Tobago for their own recognition and success. Piracy, a global challenge, will have to be addressed as a matter of urgency.

Plans are also underway to assist ancillary industries in becoming foreign exchange earners. Students will be exposed to services such as Archive Restoration, Mastering, Publishing, Song Writing, Steelpan Crafting, Animation and Graphic Design - all of which contribute significantly to the final product that is manufactured for commercial consumption. In essence, our music industry will begin in the classroom.

A strategic e-commerce initiative is also being developed using the Sanch website to hyperlink to the project’s business partners to build international awareness and further promote the Steelpan.

Creating and maintaining the competitive edge in the global music industry is essential and imperative to sustaining ownership of the Steelpan. Continuation of music literacy education, training and apprenticeship programmes, strengthening the enabling environment, provision of fiscal incentives and easy access to working capital are some examples of other strategies, which have been identified as prerequisites for attainment of these objectives.

The programme has already been endorsed by bpTT, the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Economic Commission of Latin American and the Caribbean, Microsoft, Tourism Development Company, the University of the West Indies and the Trinidad and Tobago Manufacturers’ Association. It is anticipated that other public sector agencies as well as multinational conglomerates operating in Trinidad and Tobago will assist in creating global awareness for Pan In Education.

Sanch is confident that its vision will be achieved through support and commitment by relevant government and quasi-government agencies, private sector companies and individuals, who are relentless in their pursuit of establishing the Steelpan as a mainstream musical instrument on the World Stage. Further information may be obtained at http://sanch.com/pan-in-education.htm