Kendall Band
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The Kendall Band is an interactive musical sculpture by Paul Matisse installed in 1987 at the Kendall/MIT subway station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Matisse and other artists were commissioned by the MBTA as part of a public art project called Arts on the Line.
The three Kendall "band members" are named Kepler, Pythagoras and Galileo. Their aluminium, teak and steel forms hang between the inbound and outbound train platforms. Bystanders on either side have access to controls for sound making.
"Kepler" is a 125-pound metal ring whose ratcheted hammer strikes an F sharp.
"Pythagoras" is a series of long metal tubes tuned to a B minor, with slight vibrato. A lever can be used to slowly build momentum of giant swinging mallets. When struck, the tubes' sounds echo throughout the station.
"Galileo" is a sheet of metal which, when shaken, sounds like thunder.
The three names correlate with the scientists Johannes Kepler, Pythagoras, and Galileo Galilei.
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