Pan Ramajay final day

The final day of the festival is less about rehearsals and intense practice and more about fine tuning things here and there. Rehearsals were pretty light. The tunes are as good as they are going to get in the span of a week.


I was probably the person with the least pan playing experience in the advanced band. I've been playing just under a year and a half now. Still, I was impressed by may of the others playing in the advanced band. Some were just high school graduates. I'm blown away at the thought of how far they could develop their talents. The sky is the limit.

After morning rehearsals, we spent part of the afternoon moving the pans to the stage of the concert hall. Space wise, things are pretty tight, as you can see by the photo. They have to be to accommodate all three bands. There is no band leader up front conducting. Instead, the songs get kicked off by the engine room -- in other words, the drums, cowbells, iron, and other percussion instruments that make up the pulse.

The soundcheck is just a quick run-through or partial run-through. Ray's chart ended up being 6 pages long, so I taped mine together to prevent pages from hitting the ground. Page turns are tough because there are really no breaks at all in this song. Here is a clip of the intro during soundcheck:

http://soundcloud.com/biminiroad/ramajay-2012-soundcheck-clip

Once the show is over, you say your goodbyes and hugs, then go your separate ways. There is sometimes a post-show party. Once the pans are quiet and the mallets are put away, you can't help but to reflect on the experience.

I  knew that this year would be a stretch for me and that I would be out of my comfort zone. It was definitely uncomfortable at times. I played well above my skill level just being with others who are more advanced than I am. I'm still surprised that I was able to adapt so quickly to a pan that had no notes written on it. I guess I don't need that crutch now. I'm also inspired by the musicianship that I got to be in the company of on a daily basis.

The festival was fun despite all the hard work. I pushed myself, and grew as a player. That is what I set out to do.

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Pan Ramajay Day 4

Pan Ramajay Day 4

Thursday was a good day to catch up on some individual practice.  I reminded myself that I'm supposed to be uncomfortable and that this is a stretch exercise. It's a little like running with faster runners to become faster. When unchallenged, people tend to progress slowly. I know that by playing with more advance players I will improve. I have only been playing for a year and a half, so I'm still pretty new.

Tom and Jim allotted part of their rehearsal time for working on sections of Ray's chart. This was helpful, because for once, we got to rehearse at a slower tempo.  Ray always rehearses at a fast tempo. By the time we got to Ray's slot, we finally ran through the verse and chorus sections. We also ran through the entire piece. We really must work on the transitions between sections. I'll probably play a portion of Ray's chart. It should be noted that this is a Panorama piece, that would typically be worked on for months by a steel band in Trinidad. We are doing a scaled down version of the chart in the span of a week.

Tomorrow is Friday. Final rehearsals ... sound checks ... last chance to work out tricky passages ... then the (free) show for the public. Light at the end of the tunnel.

Here is a clip of Jim telling stories about calypso from Wednesday:

http://soundcloud.com/biminiroad/ramajay-2012-jim-storytime

Pan Ramajay - day 2 & 3

Tuesday

Day two was full of intensity. I logged about 2 1/2 hours of individual practice after rehearsals. This was the day that I realized that the average age in the room of advanced band musicians was probably about 23. I'm 43. Yep, I feel old, old, old.

After lunch, we had four electives to choose from. I went with the one on improvisation, with Don Prorak. It was hands-on and pretty good, but it would have been nice to have a handout to take away, and help remember some of the lesson.

Wednesday

I suppose I hit the proverbial "Wednesday Wall". Although I kept up with much of the tunes we played in the morning session and early afternoon, I just got frustrated with Ray's chart. It's just chaos! Why bother learning your part when it is so likely to be changed? As usual, Ray kept modifying all the parts and jumped around the chart. Half the time, I didn't know where we were - Ray's chart has no rehearsal letters. I really respect Ray for the caliber of musician that he is, but his style of leading a rehearsal is such a departure from everything I've come to expect. I don't think I will play on Ray's tune.

After lunch, Ray gave a Q&A for us. Anonymously submitted questions. Ray talked about a variety of topics, including his early childhood in Trinidad. It's pretty amazing the turns that Ray's life has taken.

Don was happy with his tune, so we spent a little time reading through his arrangement of Ozzy Osbourne's Crazy Train. I have audio, posted below:

Crazy Train (sound cloud)

Pan Ramajay day 1

Day one seemed like three days long, to be honest. The leap to advanced band is huge. There are many fabulous sight readers in the group and a lot of musicianship. I was in the intermediate band last year, where there was a wider spread of talent and experience. You could say it was a little more social.




There are seven of us lead (tenor pan) players, so I can skip over passages if they are too hard -- if only for a while.

We started the day off working on sticking technique. This is something not developed well in the steel world, unlike classical percussion. Next, Tom rehearsed the group on his chart, Aria's Groove -- named for his niece. This is a piece I can handle. In the second session, Don rehearsed us on his piece, entitled Vague Memory, which has something to do with a bird song (that Don vaguely remembers). Ok, seriously, what am I doing here? I was playing less than 50% of the notes. And *now* is when the television news cameraman comes in to shoot footage for the five o'clock news?!? Ugh.

Lunch didn't arrive too soon. Following lunch break, Darren gave a lecture (convocation) on steel pan construction. Once break was over, it was time for the remaining afternoon rehearsals.

Allen led us through his funky tune, which we he handed out just then, so more sight reading. I think I can handle this, but I need to work out some sections on my own.

Last, was Ray. It was like controlled chaos. Multiple handwritten pages, some of which was not even on staff paper -- more like notes to himself. And then he changed it all! To Ray, notes on a page are just drudgery. Something. He'd rather do without. But by the end of the day, we had a nice sounding intro. It will probably change tomorrow.

The videos below are from the evening faculty jam. One clip is from Don's arrangement of Pat Metheny's April Joy, and the other is Ray playing his solo rendition of Somewhere, from West Side Story.

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Location:E Asbury Ave,Denver,United States

Pan Ramajay 2012 kickoff

I'm at it again. The third annual Pan Ramajay steel drum festival is underway. I am glad to be taking part in this event for my second year. This year, I'm going to play with the advanced band. I'm sure I'll have my hands full. I have two of the charts for the advanced band so far, and they are more challenging as expected.

We are joined once again by the same group of faculty members. This group of instructors are excellent and do a great job of engaging the students and teaching musicality. The staff are pictured below (left to right) Tom Miller, Ray Holman, Don Prorak, Alan Lightner, Jim Munzenrider, and Rick Henson.




Things got started off with orientation, an ice cream social, and them a combined band rehearsal. The rehearsal is for the chart we will won't play again until sound check on Friday! The chart is easy, to be sure, but I ended up with an instrument that has no notes marked on it. This particular pan is a Guppy-made pan, and it sounds beautiful. The low F and C sing with such beautiful harmonics, its like a choir.




Following rehearsal, I put in an hour getting acquainted with this pan and reading through the first two charts. One chart is by Tom Miller and the other is by Don Prorak. Don's chart is going to kick my butt. I fully expect to see charts by Jim, Alan, and Ray too at some point during the week.




I'm looking forward to playing with the musicians in the advance band and plan to draw some comparisons to my experience in the intermediate band.




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Location:Denver, CO