A few of the ATLAS musicians appearing in the first CD, which features blues, rock and heavy metal.
The ATLAS experiment at CERN has a new record – but this time not for proton collisions recorded or numbers of exotic particles produced. Instead, today marks the debut of the collaboration’s first music album, featuring several dozen physicists, engineers and technicians playing everything from heavy metal to classical piano.
Resonance: Music from the ATLAS experiment goes on sale today and can be purchased via iTunes. All proceeds will benefit the Happy Children’s Home, a charity founded by former CERN employee Mette Stuwe.
The album has been in the works for more than two years, with 26 ATLAS scientist-musicians, along with 42 of their bandmates, collaborators and fellow musicians, recording the thirty-six tracks in their spare time. The idea for the album was born in October 2008 during a party celebrating the successful completion of the massive ATLAS detector, where the musical entertainment included several bands that counted ATLAS collaborators as members.
Some of the ATLAS collaboration's classical musicians, featured on the second CD.
The final two-CD set includes some tracks by the bands that played in that 2008 celebration but isn’t limited to rock. In a reflection of the diversity of the collaboration’s 3,000 members, the album includes a range of musical styles, from blues and jazz to classical and celtic harp.
But while the CD might show another side of particle physicists, they by no means ignore the subject they spend their days (and often nights) devoted to. Several tracks feature original songs with physics themes, including The ATLAS Boogie and “Points of Order”, a lament about the LHC’s multitude of meetings.
Rounding out the album’s eclectic offerings is a DVD that features the famous LHC rap, a time-lapse video of the ATLAS detector’s construction, a “making of Resonance” video and an interview with the founders of the Happy Children’s Home.
More information, clips and video available at the Resonance website.
