Bertie Marshall
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Bertram Lloyd Marshall ORTT (6 February 1936 – 17 October 2012), known as Bertie Marshall, was a pioneer,
musician A musician is someone who Composer, composes, Conducting, conducts, or Performing arts#Performers, performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general Terminology, term used to designate a person who fol ...
and music instrument maker of the
steelpan The steelpan (also known as a pan or steel drum) is a musical instrument originating in Trinidad and Tobago from Afro–Trinidadians and Tobagonians, Afro-Trinidadians. Steelpan musicians are called pannists. In 1992, the steelpan was declared ...
.


Career

Marshall was born in 1936, in
Port-of-Spain Port of Spain ( ; Trinidadian and Tobagonian English, Trinidadian English: ''Port ah Spain'' ) is the capital and chief port of Trinidad and Tobago. With a municipal population of 49,867 (2017), an urban population of 81,142 and a transient dail ...
,
Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...
. As a child, he roamed the streets of John John and Success Village,
Laventille Laventille is a suburb of Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago. It is administered by the San Juan–Laventille Regional Corporation. Etymology The name ''Laventille'' hearkens back to colonial times, especially when the French dominated the cu ...
. As a boy, he watched pioneering tuners at work and came into contact with Winston "Spree" Simon who created the multiple notes on the convex metal containers used for making pans. These encounters sparked his interest in the steelpan and began his secret association with pan and panmen. Marshall began playing openly after his mother died in 1954, but had tuned his first pan long before that. At the age of 14, he got an old ping pong from Tokyo Steelband and tried to retune it, using his harmonica. By 18, he began tuning pans, guided by other tuners such as Carl Greenidge. Marshall was dissatisfied with what he called ping pong's inferior tone. By 1956, Bertie Marshall had accomplished the most significant development in today’s steelpan tone, revolutionizing the method of tuning, by changing the instrument from the inharmonic style. By tuning the notes by octaves and introducing complex tuning techniques he produced harmonics, giving the steelpan its complex sound. By discovering and establishing this harmonic tuning method he is singularly responsible for the sound of today's frontline steelband instruments, brightening the overall sound in the process. Marshall is also credited with inventing the Double Tenor instrument and for being the first person to amplify the steelpan. He developed the ''Quadrophonics'', ''Six Pan'' and ''Twelve Bass'', together with Rudolph Charles of Desperadoes Steel Orchestra from Laventille. Marshall had been building and tuning instruments for Desperadoes since 1970. Marshall was part of a project of the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute in 1982, which investigated the possibilities of machine production of steelpans. Because of Marshall’s contributions to Trinidad & Tobago’s National Instrument, the T&T government awarded him their Chaconia Gold Medal, given for "Outstanding Service to the Country". That was the first time the award was given in the field of music. He further received the
Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago The Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (ORTT) is the highest honour of Trinidad and Tobago. Established in 2008, it replaced the Trinity Cross as the decoration for distinguished and outstanding service to the country. Recipients Ref ...
, presented by President
George Maxwell Richards George Maxwell Richards (1 December 1931 – 8 January 2018) was a Trinidadian politician who served as the fourth president of Trinidad and Tobago, in office from 2003 to 2013. He was the first president of Trinidad and Tobago and ...
in 2008.Order of Republic
/ref>


Death

Bertie Marshall died at the age of 76 on 17 October 2012, with his children at his bedside. He left behind three children, Claude, Claudine and Leanora "Jill" and eight grandchildren.


Readings

Felix I. R. Blake: ''The Trinidad and Tobago Steel Pan: History and Evolution''.


Notes


References

* "Materials science and metallurgy of the Caribbean steel drum Part I Fabrication, deformation phenomena and acoustic fundamentals", Springer Netherlands, * Jeannine Remy D.M.A. and Jeremy G. de Barry, "Reflection on Aspects that define the Steelband culture of Trinidad and Tobago", June 2005


External links



(interview recorded 13 March 2005), trinbagopan.com, 18 March 2005. * Belgrave, Ian "Teddy"

trinbagopan.com, 10 September 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Marshall, Bertie Steelpan musicians Trinidad and Tobago musicians Recipients of the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago 2012 deaths 1936 births Musicians from Port of Spain