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Pan in A-minor Analysis

July 9, 2008 on 3:43 pm | In Music etc. | 2 Comments

-By Kurleigh Lowe

Pan in A minor is a mega hit composed and performed by Lord Kitchener (Aldwyn Roberts) in 1987. Amoco Renegades performed this piece in the panorama competition and Jit Samaroo’s interpretation of this piece is phenomenal and must be archived in the Steel Pan Classics library. This paper will investigate Samaroo’s use of structure, tonality and rhythms in this historic arrangement.

As a reference, this paper uses the YouTube video located here, additionally, instead of referring to measures and bar lines, reference would be made to the timeline of the video. For example, “see section starting at 2:07” would be a reference to the exact location of the music in the video to which the paper is referring.

Structure and Form
This arrangement was for the Panorama competition in 1987 and it was a requirement that the pieces be approximately ten minutes in length. When examining this piece closely, you will notice that there is some amount of repetition in the structure. Like almost any panorama arrangement, this piece contains an introduction, actual song, variation/interpretation and an “outro .” Table I shows a detail description of the Pan in A minor structural arrangement.

Table I shows that this arrangement is linear in structure. Most sections are played twice, and this is the only type of repetition in this piece. Each section is unique and presents several musical ideas that will be investigated further. Even though the recap by definition is a repeat (usually in a different key in classical music), the recap section in this piece features some extensive melodic motifs and rhythms that make it notably different from the initial verse/chorus at 0:40-1:38.

The two-beat bars as identified in Interlude III and in the Outro put some slight variation into the musical structure and are very subtle in nature.

Harmonic Investigation
Harmonically, this arrangement demonstrates a level of complexity that is on par with many of the great composers of the classical genre.
Intro
The arrangement starts with a descending progression that moves from the root (A minor) to the fifth (E major). See figure 1. It is a standard I-V movement as found in classical music but made interesting because of the passing chords (G major, F major). This progression is repeated with the guitars and doubles executing scales. The A-major sonority (0:17) that then follows provides a stark contrast to the minor-feel that was already established. Further, this marks the beginning of a standard II-V-I progression (A-D-G-C) but the Bb-major (0:21) marks the spot where the music races through several chords and on first analysis may seem totally random, but the overall sound is very unique, exotic and elegant. A similar sounding progression may not be found anywhere except in a Samaroo arrangement. Figure 2 outlines this progression. The music returns to it’s a-minor sonority at (0:32) when the band plays an E-major which is the fifth of the root as established in the opening series. This V-I progression is followed by “drops” on the VI (F major - 0:35) which forms a (ii)-V-I-VI progression, a very common progression. The introduction ends with the entire band executing a chromatic scale (0:37) starting on E and ascending over an octave to a G# before the actual piece beginning on the subsequent A.

Song (0:40)
The main song section is vintage Lord Kitchener and apparently no one arranges Kitchener better than Jit Samaroo. The tenors play the melody with some lower pans doubling the melody an octave below at specific points. The guitars provide counter melodies in every break in the melodic line. See Table II for the chordal changes for several of the sections in this piece, including the main song section, which begins at (0:39).

The chorus (1:08) of this song generates the most excitement, mostly because of a two-note phrase that divides a I-V progression. The two-note phrase is the melodic representation of the words “steel-pan,” as sung by Kitchener. The second half of the chorus is highlighted by a run over a G-chord (see figure 3).

Variation I (2:07)
The creativity begins with the second verse. As with any panorama piece, the arrangement and improvisation of the melody are key elements to the success of a piece and Dr. Samaroo and his renegades take no prisoners in their stellar rendition.

There are three distinct voices in this section (excluding the drummers and iron section), a main melodic line (guitars and double pans), a counter melody played above this line (tenors) and a chordal/bass foundation. The chordal/bass foundation establishes that the music is back in the verse, since the chords are the same as previous verses. These three lines interact intimately ending the variation with a thrilling downward chromatic. See (2:34) and (3:04).

Variation II (4:07)
The second variation begins with the band executing drops on a C-chord before finally resolving to F minor which is the new key for this variation. Further, the melodic line in this section bears no semblance to the melodic lines of the actual song, but this is the beauty of the entire section. It still has the same changes as the song itself (albeit in the key of F minor) but this expose swings with a West Indian flare that can only be experienced on the Savannah.

The chorus of this F-minor section is highlighted by a ferocious run (5:21-5:37 and 5:50-6:04) that begins in the tenor pans and waves its way through the entire band with the basses playing furious arpeggios in an Eb - Ab progression that all climaxes on a C-major drop that marks the end of that section.

Interlude I (6:04)
This point of the music can be considered a bridge since its shorter than the previous sections and also, it introduces a totally new idea. Listen for the James Bond sounding theme (starts at 6:05-6:12) in the lower pans. The bridge also serves as the introduction of the next section which is another variation of the verse, but this time in the key of Ab major.

Variation III (6:16)
This variation puts a different dimension on the music by moving into Ab major key. This is a standard tactic in Panorama arrangements but what is slightly unexpected in this situation is that the major key is Ab-major instead of A-major. The melody is in the tenor line in this section and while there are remnants of the original theme, the tenors quickly move into a ramojay (6:30) that elevates the music to new highs.

The variation continues with a new interpretation of the chorus that emphasizes a specific motif. This motif (6:52) is played a total of four times before the band executes another flamboyant run (7:07) that passes through several chords before settling in the minor mode of Ab for another ramojay (7:23).

This ramojay ends with the arrangement returning to the original key (7:37) of A-minor and the melody in the lower pans in essence creating a recapitulation. This leads to a brief interlude which is followed by the final chorus and then the outro. The final chorus is slightly varied from the original, but its theme is still evident.

Outro
At (8:43) the outro begins with what sounds like another interpretation of the chorus, but this time it is more rhythmic with four-beat percussion breaks at (8:49) and (8:56). This section is then climaxed with the entire band participating in a furious chromatic run that uses an E-Eb-E base to build the run. Basically what this means is that for every note in the chromatic, this base (E-Eb-E) is played. See figure 5 for more details on this run. Once the final note is reached, the entire band announces the theme of the song in unison before ending on the A-minor “drops.”

Additional Comments
Pan in A-minor is one of several steelpan gems composed by Lord Kitchener. The industry surely suffered a tremendous loss when he departed this life, but his music has already catapulted the steelpan to a new level. This performance by Amoco Renegades was presented more that two decades ago, and yet it is still being performed. A simple search for Pan in A-minor on YouTube yields astounding results.

If ever there is a complaint about the arrangement, it may be the repeating of sections as this can be a technique used to lengthen the piece. Besides this minor complaint, this piece is truly a work of art produced by two very great artists. It has always been rumored that Jit Samaroo can only arrange Lord Kitchener’s music, but this could not be further from the truth. The creativity and brilliance of this arrangement is only a miniscule taste of his true genius.

Figure 1 showing the opening progression of the Amoco Renegades arrangement of Pan in A-minor

Figure 2 showing the harmonic changes in the introduction

Figure 3 showing the highlight run in the chorus.

Click here to view the tables.

Pan in A-minor

July 5, 2008 on 5:16 pm | In Steel Pan | No Comments

I have completed an analysis of the Pan in A-minor arrangement as played by Amoco Renegades (now BP Renegades). It would be posted on this website under the Pages section. In doing the analysis, some questions came to mind. Questions like, what constitutes a great panorama arrangement? There are some basic outlines/requirements that are generally followed — piece must have an introduction and ending (outro), the actual song and then variations/arrangement of the song. Jit Samaroo’s arrangement of Pan in A-minor meets all these requirements and Amoco Renegades executes it with unprecedented fluency and “fire”. It is almost a shock that this piece did not win the Panorama in 1987. In fact, it was Phase II that won the competition, but it is Amoco’s performance that history remembers.

When you search for Pan in A-minor on Youtube (click here), you will discover a quiet world of pan enthusiasts performing this piece. Further, many of these artistes are performing at least the introduction of Jit Samaroo’s arrangement, which will underline the importance of this arrangement and performance. Even HighLite Vibes has a version of Pan in A , that mirrors many of the musical moments from that memorable performance.

Find more information about HighLite Vibes here