I do not play the pan.  I can't keep a beat and consider myself "rhythmically challenged."  At my age, by the time the arranger has given out the fifth note, I've forgotten the first note.   I know where the notes are on a frontline pan and can play the scales. Just don't ask me to play a melody! 

I've been involved with pan in many other ways.  Ever since the jumbie bit me, I have enjoyed listening to pan music, particularly when performed live.  There is something about the energy, the vibes, the spirit of a live pan performance that catches me. And I'm not talking just about a solo musician.  Steelpan comprises a whole family of instruments playing  melody, harmony and bass line.  A steel orchestra may comprise of a few or more than 100 musicians playing together.  Whenever pannists have a concert that I can attend, I do.

I am also involved in pan "behind the scenes,"  I have worked with a number of steel orchestras, transporting musicians to rehearsals and gigs, organizing the "panyard" (rehearsal space), assembling and dismantling the racks that hold the instruments. You name it, I've done it, as long as it doesn't involve playing a pan!  I leave that to my very talented musician friends. 

Most recently many of these efforts have been with the Adlib Steel Orchestra, from Freeport, Long Island, NY, whose panyard is a few miles from where I live.  Visit their website at www.adlibsteelorchestra.com.  The photograph at the top of this page is of Adlib performing at the 2014 Brooklyn Panorama competition.

My interest in steelpan has taken me to Trinidad Carnival annually for almost 35 years, to Brooklyn for the Labor Day weekend Caribbean Carnival events for about 30 years, to Notting Hill Carnival in London, as well as local Caribbean carnivals held here on Long Island.  Most Caribbean styled carnivals involve a major steelband competition often called a "Panorama."  In Trinidad, many of the steel orchestras that compete have as many as 120 musicians each.  In Brooklyn, competition regulations limit each orchestra to a maximum of 100 pannists.  If you have not heard or seen a steelband of that size, you are missing something special.

Another aspect of Steelpan involves the occasional Steelband Music Festivals which usually take place in Trinidad.  Here, the emphasis is often on classical music or original compositions in the classical or jazz style, as opposed to calypso or soca.  Hearing a steel orchestra play such music is a phenomenal experience.