Then heat is applied, blackening the substance, something known as nigredo . Alchemy if properly understood means that whenever something important evolves, everything around it evolves as well - in this case the society itself. Hated at first, the steelpan is now the national instrument of Trinidad. The book traces not only the physical development of the steelpan, the plight of the early pioneers and their struggle for survival and acceptance, the social function of the pan yard and the rivalry between the bands manifest in the annual Panorama competition but also the spirit and pan-world spread of Pan. Ring of Steel is an intriguing work on the trinity of pan, kaiso and mas - part historical treatise and part philosophical discourse.
Grant is in fact a celebrant in the pan-yard culture of the Caribbean.
His writing works best where it celebrates the culture of freeness, sprung from historical resistance to the banning of the people's drums and the people's gods. This Pan Ring site is owned by Cy Grant .