Loquan told the gathering that roughly four years ago he realised that much of the musical arrangements created for the annual Panorama competition as well as the Steelband Music Festival were eventually lost because of the absence of proper documentation and archiving. He also lamented over the lack of educational resources available for even the teachers who are willing to teach pan music to work with.

Loquan also shared his experience of seeing children as young as seven-years-old in Finland reading music scores while playing the pan, while adults here were still playing by ear only. This, he said, urged him to begin exploring methods thorough which technology could be harnessed to make pan education more easily accessible. Loquan said when he discovered a method of providing the information through a digital media, he approached Sandiford with the idea and the man who pioneered steelband recordings here and internationally.

CD one contains thirteen tracks that were composed by Loquan, arranged and performed an assortment of arrangers and steel orchestras. Among the arrangers featured are; Jit Samaroo, Edwin Pouchet, Pelham Goddard, Cary Codrington, Kerry Brown and Amrit Samaroo. Steel Orchestras include Renegades, Silver Stars, Exodus, Tropical Angel harps, Skiffle Bunch, The National Steel Orchestra, St Augustine Girls’ High School and Steelpan Lovers of Finland. Andy Sheafe also worked on two tracks alongside Loquan.

The second CD in the collection is a virtual treasure trove of information that will be invaluable to any music student and even students doing social studies or even history of the arts. CD two features an easily navigated webpage format with hyper-speed links from one page to another. There is detailed information concerning each tune on CD one including the original recorded version with vocals and the score, which can be followed by anyone whose computer has either the Finale or any midi format music programmes installed.

The lyrics are also available and can be printed along with the scores. Staying with the music, one can isolate any one of the groups of instruments; be it’s the tenor, seconds, cellos, bass or even percussion in order to learn those either by ear or from the score. The tempo can be adjusted up or down to facilitate playing along. There is an overview as well as in-depth rationales on each tune prepared by musicologist, Satanand Sharma who defined the project as a needed tool for music education.
CD two also offers detailed profiles on the various arrangers as well as full histories on the steel orchestras featured on CD one. There are also profiles on well-known pan music composers such as Alvin Daniell, Christophe Grant and Andy Sheafe. The information available also includes Notes on the Steelpan, Caribbean and Latin Rhythms in midi format and other informative profiles and notes.

Sandiford invited persons at the launch to make whatever suggestions that would assist him in improving on the product, making it more useful and beneficial. He said that CD two is only about 150 megs and so there is much room for more information. He also announced that there will soon be a version specially designed for children at the primary level. The Pan In Education series will be distributed through the United States as well as in Europe via a corporate distribution network that Sandiford is putting in place.

SANCH has already received a commitment from several companies including BPTT, which will distribute the double CD through its retail sales network, which is the second largest of its kind in the world. Sandiford, Loquan and musicologist, Pat Bishop who praised Loquan and Sandiford for their efforts and innovation, are hoping that the CD will make its way into the local education system where they all believe it will be of invaluable service.