DCist amigos Bluebrain (***) are always coming up with creative ways to get their music to the masses. And this idea is no exception. From Ryan Holladay, one half of the group:

Essentially, we have created an audio companion to the Sant Ocean Hall in the Smithsonian's Natural History Museum. It's a 20 minute piece of music that we've written to be played while exploring this section of the museum. It's not an event, per se, as it isn't happening on a specific time or date...rather we will be putting the MP3 on our website starting Thursday morning so that people can download it and tour the exhibit at their leisure, by themselves or with others using a set of headphones and an MP3 player. It's a free download and will remain on our site for the entire summer.

Yesterday, DCist got the chance to preview the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History's new Sant Ocean Hall, which opens to the public this Saturday. Our photographer, Meaghan Gay, said "It really is a very cool space. I am kind of a museum freak, and this blows away the Natural History museum in NY, or the one in Vienna for that matter. This is a totally interactive space, with video touch screens all around." The musuem is making a huge effort at interactivity — you can follow them on their web site, on Flickr, on Facebook, on YouTube and even on Twitter. more ›