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Global - True greatness is achieved
by those who are able to deliver the goods
without compromise on the grand stage, with
distinction and excellence. Michael Jordan,
Larry Bird, Michael Jackson, Pelé, Usain
Bolt, The Williams Sisters, The Oscars, The
Grammy telecast, cricketing legend Sir
Garfield Sobers, Clive Bradley, Len
“Boogsie” Sharpe, Muhammad Ali, The Apollo
mission to the moon - the list goes on and
on. Everyone is presented an opportunity for
greatness at some point in their existence.
The question is: can you step into the
moment and deliver?
Such a moment has
presented itself to the new administration
of Trinidad and Tobago’s governing body for
steelpan known as Pan Trinbago. The upcoming
finalé for the 2010 steelband music panorama
competition in Trinidad and Tobago is solely
a Pan Trinbago production. And they
alone bear the ultimate responsibility for
how the product they ‘govern’ is presented
on the global stage for Panorama finals. This year’s
internet broadcast’s exclusivity has been
granted to a single media outlet -
CTNTWorld; moreover they will provide viewer
access to the event by Pay-Per-View.
Every year the performing
steelbands (unarguably the best in the
world), bring awesome performances to the
stage that are worthy of global exposure in
Prime Time. Unfortunately, the presentations
end with the bands themselves, as very
little - if anything else - is ready for
prime time. Plagued with dropouts, digital
noise, blank screens, awful audio and
mindless video [mis]direction, awful edits,
musical gibberish (uneducated ‘analysis’ of
musical movements) by hosts and announcers,
wrong information or no information, camera
men bumping into each other, more
photographers in the video frames than
steelpan musicians - Trinidad national
Panorama on the internet has not been an ‘A’
class production.
Nothing less than a
quality production in terms of a
technological delivery system, musical
performances and overall production will be
acceptable this time around. None of the
past follies will be acceptable. The musical
performances by the orchestras themselves
are already in the bag, and always have
been. Every year the bands come ready for
“Prime Time,” and deliver.
The standards for quality
delivery of steelband audio over the
internet have been set long ago by
organizations like New York-based Basement
Recordings. Indeed, it was only this past
weekend when Andy Narell, accompanied by the
French steel orchestra known as
Calypsociation, delivered exquisite sounding
audio performances during a live 2 hour-plus
concert in Germany, and broadcast in high
fidelity’ over the internet.
A quick sample of the
opinions from the When
Steel Talks global steelpan audience on this
matter shows a recurring theme - that is
they have no problem paying the fee for
viewing. However, they remain extremely
skeptical based on their prior experiences,
that Pan Trinbago can deliver a credible
product over the internet.
It would be grossly insufficient to simply
be ‘better than you’ve been before.’ Pan
Trinbago must set new standards and
expectations as those who have already
achieved greatness - have done before. After
all: is not Trinidad & Tobago’s annual
Panorama the Super Bowl of Pan??
Competent musical
analysis, historical and current info that
reflect an awareness of and respect for a
global audience and the steelpan artform
itself, quality sound (stereo, please),
proper lighting, et al - in short a
production that is worthy of the greatest
steelband music show on the planet.
This must be a given.
No excuses, no apologies
- step-up to the plate and deliver - or get
out of Dodge. The global steelpan audience
will be watching. Greatness awaits you, Pan
Trinbago - time to bring your ‘A’ game to
the plate.
Leave your opinion on the
WST forum
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Can Pan Trinbago Deliver the Goods on Internet
Broadcast of Super Bowl of Steelband Music?
