News
The Swastika Symbol Strikes Again in the Steelpan Industry with Jeremy ''Germy'' Arndt Promoting His Nazi Roots on the Yoga Class Tour Circuit
Trading the life of a true, multi-dimensional artiste for anything short of Eternal Salvation and dear loved ones is a raw deal. Authentic artistes, skilled in many art forms often find themselves struck with sudden inspiration to create something new and artistic. As inspiration can come quite often and suddenly to artistes of this particular ilk in question, such artistes must be flexible, and willing to follow the inspiration beckoning them to be materialized into art. With that being said, Jeremy ''Germy'' Arndt was not even on the menu this fine, cold evening, as an entirely different topic was on...
Steelpan Blogging As a Labor of Love - Celebrating Our Six Month Anniversary as a Game Changing Steelpan Blog Source
As steelpan and handpan enthusiasts are well aware, online blogs concerning the steelpan and its handpan instrument offshoots that are of good quality and consistent are few and far between in the industry. Suffice it to say, blogging about any topic is no easy task and no less of an easy task when one thinks about the difficulty in blogging about niche topics, such as the steelpan and handpan instruments simultaneously and their relationship to each other and their broader respective communities. When one further considers steelpan and handpan related blogs that do not promote advertisements in order to monetize...
Introducing the First 'D' Minor Handpan of the KaribPAN Celtic Minor Series
KaribPAN is happy to introduce the first 'D' minor handpan of our Celtic Minor Series: Brand new, finely tuned KaribPAN handpan in D Minor. This instrument is part of our Celtic Minor Series. Included is a red custom designed soft case made from faux leather. Free FedEX International Economy Shipping is included with this offer. Notes: D, E, F G, A, Bb, C, D Tuning Warranty Terms: Our Tuning Warranty does not cover instruments that have been abused or misused in any way, such as ways that cause the instrument to become damaged apart from normal use, or ways...
How the Steelpan Went From Being a Poor Man's Piano to an Elitist's Toy
Pan, as a young instrument well shy of 100 years old, has such a recent history that many of the early pioneers responsible for the development of the steelpan as we know it are still alive and well today. It was not long ago, before the reluctant acceptance of pan by the Trinidadian bourgeoisie that pannists were outlawed, ostracized, criminalized and imprisoned for their steelpan endeavors. A large part of these steelpan endeavors included public street performances. The steelpan is an instrument that was born and raised in the ghetto, and those associated with it in the early days were...
The Cheese Factor of Using Backing Tracks As a Solo Performing Pannist Ultimately Depends on the Individual
As a pannist who often performs solo and never with backing tracks, it is clear that there are pannists of the solo performing persuasion who consistently use backing tracks when performing. Often, these backing tracks are of the midi variety and inherently produce a significant cheese factor as far as solo performance goes. How great this particular cheese factor ultimately is depends upon the individual performer. Backing tracks produced using live instruments are a somewhat different story, but for the sake of staying on topic, let us stick with the overall idea of solo steelpan performers who use backing tracks...