The Technology
of Pan
hits Massachusetts Institute of Technology
When Geniuses meet
Genius
Massachusetts - Who said engineers can't dance? On any given day you can find today's and tomorrow's
next great engineers, scientists and Nobel Peace
Prize awardees running across the campus of
Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT). MIT is one of the
most respected and prestigious technology-based
institutions of higher learning in the world.
The members of this academic community are normally
absorbed in their daily collegiate routines.
Rocket scientists, theoretical mathematicians,
electrical engineers - you name it, they are here.
You can watch them as they carry their models of new
inventions and concepts literally in their hands and
minds. And as is the case more often than not, these
brilliant minds are locked into their own world of
studies, exams, new innovations - setting the world on
fire. With their aeronautical models, chemistry, mechanical,
electrical and other material/books, you quickly
realize they are already into tomorrow. But
this day would be different as MIT was about to get
a heavy dose of 'back to the future' with the
steelpan instrument as Pantonic Steel Orchestra
landed on campus. On this day the students,
faculty and staff - geniuses themselves - enjoyed
and marveled at the genius of the instrument.
It is only fitting that these
sometimes stoic and perceived nerdy beings, oblivious and un-phased by pretty much anything,
(as
they really are the ones who cause the world
to be phased, with their
dazzling technical brilliance and discoveries)
would be stopped dead in their tracks on this spring day
by another genius invention - the steelpan. The
busy and normally unmoved prodigies were all forced
to stop, gaze, inspect and acknowledge this
instrument developed by another set of geniuses from
the 20th century, as the stage side of
the imposing Pantonic Steel Orchestra went
through its repertoire of a wide and varied
genre of music.
The audience nodded in
approval and applauded the performances -
while inching ever closer and closer to the
performers for a better critical and scientific
inspection of this instrument from the recent past,
that seemed to be impacting on their present and
future sensibilities, defying their normally
understanding of the laws of physics.
Indeed each piece performed
further challenged the senses, accepted norms and known realities
of the workings of the
steel drum. After the show, several students
surrounded Tyrone, ace Pantonic tenor musician, for a closer look at the wonder of the instrument,
among them Arlis and Hadi Salam, both graduate
students. The inventors of the steelpan instrument
would be extremely proud to watch their musical
wonder fascinate the next generation of future wiz
kids on the footsteps of MIT.
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Pantonic at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in
Pictures