Pacem Blessing

Date for Entry: (Unknown/Forgotten)

[June 2017]

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Thursday 16th March 2022)

Dear Diary,

    I was given this score called “Pacem Blessing” from aunty Carol in church. She wanted to have someone play this on tenor pan together with the choir. On the Sunday to play the music I got the pan set up and then got a tenor pan. Everyone in church was already seated and they were looking. I was a bit ashamed.

    The sad part of this event was that I was not told when the piece was going to be played and it was quite down to the end of the service. Unfortunately, they ended up playing and didn’t tell me or wave off for me to get to the pan so I sat there listening to the choir alone. It wouldn’t have felt good to just walk up in the piece as the choir just started singing at all.

    I told Mr. Sharma what had happened when he had asked me how come I didn’t play the music. We did not have much persons who came to practice on that Sunday. When I was trying out the bass part for a new piece, a lady came up to speak to me. She said that her daughter was getting married in the church and she wanted to find out if I can go and play some music for it. I took the offer and gave her my number.

 

Link(s):

1. “Pacem Blessing” Score.

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

Fundamentals of Pan Arranging (Final Exam)

Date for Entry: (Friday 12th May 2017)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Wednesday 24th November, 2021)

Dear Diary,

    Today was my pan arranging exam and this one was to be done in the JFK Auditorium down in the Open Campus. Again, I didn’t know what exactly to learn from my textbook, so I took the book summarized things and made my own notes on what I thought would come as well as the aspect of the book dealing with the rules and functions of the different pans. These notes became my “Ultimate Project” and were dedicated to this course. It looks like at the end of the second semester of the year, I make these scrolls of notes and dedicate it to the most difficult subject of the four.

    This was the subject I did not want to repeat and I felt like it was one that I was not going to pass. I took my notes and went through them and then went to hand in my bookbag at the stall where they will take it and give you a number for it. I placed the number into my pocket and went to the Auditorium with my identification card around my neck. The moment the examination began and I opened the examination paper, I was just so surprised at some of the simplest of questions to come. I answered all of them and then there was the final question at the back which was a four-bar arrangement. We had to work out the chords and do a harmony along with a bass line. That was fun but I was worried about it. 

    I completed the exam paper and checked it over four times properly and felt so much pain in my back and a bit dizzy from all of that nonstop concentration I gave all of that time. I had to sit there for a long while because when I asked one of the invigilators if it was okay to leave, she said that we had to wait because they were looking for a release form that had to be found before we could leave the Auditorium. About ten minutes going to four o'clock they finally allowed us to hand in our papers and leave.

    Upon leaving the Auditorium, I went and hand in the number and collected my bag. Then I took out my blue folder placed the receipt gently into it and then made sure I had the composition I did. I printed out a full score for Samantha this time since the last day after the Steelpan Literature class, I gave her a copy of the Piano part. 

    As I took it out to give her she said, “Daryl! What is that?” I knew that was the 'I don’t really care' sound and mixed with pain that she had at the time. Seeing that Natasha was interested in the music I gave her it and she started sight-reading it and I listened to her sing out the first two pages and when she discovered the lyrics and the girl ran out to stop her from singing the words. I simply smiled and walked off into the car and went home. That was the last of seeing my friends from the Certificate. I was wondering if they were going to have a picture taken of the whole class but it seemed like the answer was no when most of them started disappearing. 

[UPDATE] 

    Over some time, the large Bristol board paged book I made as the Ultimate Project was bound and sealed by green treasury tags. In 2019, just before the national lockdown for the Covid-19 Coronavirus, twin copies were made by my hands. One was gifted to the Festival Library at the Department of Creative and the second copy was gifted to UWI's West Indiana Collections of the Alma Jordon library. Additional information was added for the aid of Dr. Remy's future students doing the Music Literatures of the Steelpan course. 

 

Link(s):

1. Exam Receipt and Study Notes.
2. Photographs of Ultimate Project.**

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali

Music Literatures of the Steelpan (Final Exam)

Date for Entry: (Thursday 4th May, 2017)

Actual Date of Online Entry: (Wednesday 24th November, 2021)

Dear Diary,

    Today was my steelpan literature examination and I was so nervous and confused about what to learn. I went to make some notes for the exam and study them just in case. The whole semester made us feel like we did nothing apart from all of the hard labouring work in coursework assignments

    Dr. Remy had asked us to take our time during the finals because students usually finish it within the first thirty minutes. I really made sure to take my time. I was the last one to finish the examination because they said to use the question paper to write the answers in and at that time, I had already done all of the answers in my answer booklet. I re-wrote the whole thing. 

    I could see that the examiners were all so tired of waiting. I didn’t like having to keep them back but I was ensuring that I had things down to get my marks. For the questions with books and authors that was not good because I couldn’t remember all. The notes are in the back. 

    Two jokes in the exam, while I was still doing my work, Reon yawn and moaned out with his hands up. The six invigilators and I burst out in laughter. Then while I was going to ask a question, three of thought I was ready to hand up and walked right into each other. I had to stop the girl in front of them and then ask them what was the name of the green booklet. The tired feller in the red said that I could call it an answer booklet. I could see the hard look on his face. It was exactly one more minute to make three o'clock when I gave my papers up. I then saw the looks on all the class members' faces upon exiting studio four.

 

Link(s):

1. Steelpan Literature Candidate's Receipt & Study Notes.

 

Daryl Zion M. Ali