ISSUE 1/MAY 2014 17
- Capturing the Pan –
Media Archive Recording
by Makesi Joseph
Yoichi Watanabe and Katsunari Imai came to Trinidad and Tobago following the sweet sound of our music. Steelpan music to be exact is what drew them to our shores where they began capturing audio and visual performances while teaching at UTT. Through their research in local culture particularly Steelpan music they found that the true Steelpan experience could not be appreciated through the quality of recordings that have been archived up to this day. This recognition started the venture to give the world a higher quality, genuine experience via surround sound.
Steelpan, the only acoustic musical instrument invented in the 20th century, is a new invention and is still developing sonically. Unfortunately most of this development has not been properly documented or archived. The steelpan movement has seen massive growth and development from the 1940’s to now with an expansion to over 200 steel bands coming from many different communities. The popularity of the instrument has grown not just in absolute numbers but just as importantly across various social strata. All over the country and the world, a variety of ages, races, sexes, economic and educational backgrounds and cultural contexts have gravitated to this instrument. Many of these steelpan enthusiasts come together for the greatest steel band event in the world, Trinidad and Tobago’s Panorama Competition.
With all the development of the steelpan movement and the improvements to the instrument itself sonically over the years, the technology used to capture/archive the grand sound of these steel orchestras has not kept apace.
Mr. Watanabe and Mr. Imai have worked closely with many of these bands helping them design their racks and covers to better enhance the sound of the orchestra. Examples include Exodus with their tiered rack system and reflection filters at the sides and Birdsong with the inverted covers to help sound project out rather than be trapped in the band. These innovations are just some of what the pair has worked on with bands interested in ideas to improve their sound. To improve the quality of how this sound is captured the gentlemen turned to their employer and to the assistance of their Music Technology Students.
Through Mr. Watanabe and Mr. Imai The UTT has been archiving all the major Steelpan events including Junior Panorama, The National Senior Panorama Competitions and other major performances in the carnival and during the year. Having seen that the best technology available for this purpose has not been used effectively the case was made for The UTT to figure out what the best equipment would be and what the best use of this equipment would look like.