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Biography Ralph Richardson
Deutschborn
13th December 1936
Pan Podium, The Official Magazine of the British Association of Steelbands
Issue 9, Summer 2004, by Robbie Joseph and Monika Nicoletti-Tung
 At
68, Ralph is still very much involved with his music. Based in Switzerland,
he is responsible for teaching hundreds of Swiss students the art of playing
the steelpan. He continues to teach Off Beat, Steel Magic, Pfanne
Steel Band,
as well conduct workshops and school projects. He never
shies away from a challenge. Ralph stated: "I believe I can teach anyone to
play the pan." Whilst in Switzerland for the NORDfest 2004, Pan Podium was
able to see this in practice. Ralph was teaching a group of disadvantaged
students of mixed nationalities to perform at a concert and he had them all
playing a tune on the pan even though they never played one before. This he
achieved in ten hours over five days. He possesses a great amount of
patience and his dedication is phenomenal. Determination to achieve the best
in his music is a powerful driving force for him.
  Ralph worked as a galley boy and cook for six years for the Scandinavian
Shipping Lines before going to London where he worked in a factory testing
water heaters. At that time Ralph knew that music was his life so he got
together with Gary Chang and Paul Francis to do some gigging. They did the
hotel circuit on Park Lane during the weekends. He is a self-taught musician.
He bought himself a piano and started writing his own music.
He attended the
Eric Guildor School of Music for three months where he was told that he had
a natural gift for music. He went to a session in the CBS studio with Pedro
Burgess and Irving Chambers to play for the
Battie Mamzelle band, a rock
band incorporating steel pan. Ralph did their music and they rehearsed at
the Three Fives club whilst he was playing in the Manchurian on Baker
Street. Before Battie Mamzelle dissolved through mismanagement they produced
an album of Ralph's music, entitled I See The Light. He also played with the
Soucouyant steelband in London, Sundown and Second Spring
in San Juan, Trinidad.
 Ralph toured Vietnam, Holland, Santo Domingo and Europe and did freelance
music sessions whenever he was in London. Michael Blackman became his agent
and Ralph stayed in London owing to the huge amount of work at the time. He
went to Germany for two weeks where he met Russell Valdez and Tom Dyer, they
formed a combo and did lots gigs and some tracks in the studio but the
musicianship was a let down and this led Ralph back to Trinidad. After a
month there he received an invitation to go to Switzerland and has not looked back since.
Ralph is an
accomplished musician who is a proficient bassist, pianist and percussionist.
Music is the food of life and Ralph's is always famished. He has just
released his CD entitled Mis Takes, which came about from a band called
Evolution that disbanded owing to family commitments. The production of the
CD has been made possible through the help of Teye Akunor's T-Vibe Productions and
Monika Nicoletti-Tung.
Trinidad and Tobago has a great Ambassador in Ralph Richardson who
has taken the national instrument and its music to further realms of
recognition.
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Instruments, Accessories, Blendings
Seit vielen Jahren ist Ralph kompetenter Partner wenn es um Steelpan geht.
Er ist selber Berufsmusiker und weiss deshalb auf was es ankommt!
Er bietet
seriöse Beratung, qualitativ hoch stehende Produkte,
nach dem Verkauf den
nötigen Service und dies alles zu äusserst fairen Preisen.
For you it is not that important to have the biggest store.
At the end of
the day it is better to have the best deal - and this is our strongest
argument.
»
InstrumentsWorkshops
Mit viel Spass und Freude lernen AnfängerInnen die verschiedenen Instrumente kennen und üben, während des
Spielens aufeinander zu hören. Beinahe unbewusst lernen sie etwas über
Harmonien, verschiedene Rhythmen, ja sogar Mathematik. Bereits 580-500
v. Chr. hatte der griechische Philosoph Pythagoras die Musik auf eine
andere Art und Weise entdeckt. Er war der erste, der die Intervalle
durch Verhältnisse ganzer Zahlen gemessen hat. Diese passt auch in die
von Pythagoras überlieferte Zahlenphilosophie, nach der die gesamte Welt
durch Zahlen - insbesondere 1,2,3,4 - geordnet ist. Auf der Steelpan werden solche mathematischen
Zusammenhänge sichtbar gemacht.
Music makes you and your kids smarter, because music can stimulate brain
development. It affects the spatial, temporal reasoning that underlies math,
engineering and even chess. Listening to music helps trillions of brain
connections to develop. Just play pan, it certainly can't hurt.
» Workshops
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