The end of the world was signaled along Binghamton’s spine at 1:04 p.m. on Tuesday, April 23, in the form of the Doomsday Symphony.

The Doomsday Symphony, an independent music project by David Gaita, a senior double-majoring in music and biology, is a 10-minute piece originally written to coincide with the Mayan 2012 apocalypse prediction. Gaita both wrote the music and conducted the musicians. The piece imitated the decaying of the universe by becoming increasingly chaotic as it went on.

Those aware of the project arrived early and, with a knowing eye, spotted people who discreetly revealed their instruments. On the spine, few people took notice. Everyone had a destination, nobody knew what was about to happen. Guitars, trumpets, trombones, drums and miscellaneous noisemakers were seen by those not texting friends or rushing to class. The theme was chaos and — after the clock tower rang its one o’clock bell — the Doomsday troops armed themselves with instruments, organized and attacked the spine with a cacophony of music.

At first, only the rattle of drums could be heard. Nobody really noticed. Then the brass. Nobody can ignore the brass. The musicians, coming from all over the spine, converged at and circled the Pegasus statue. Some people laughed nervously. Others simply went about their business. A man ran out in a bath robe and a hat screaming, “It’s the end of the world, its the end of the world.”

“The music was a great addition to a beautiful day. I liked that it was a surprise,” said Lauren Pleener, a senior majoring in philosophy, politics and law.

This was only the first stop in the symphony’s circuit. The musicians, now a group, traveled to the Engineering Building as if in a spiritual rite. When they got to the statue between the Engineering Building and Bartle, a man jumped up, sporting a traffic cone, and sang through it operatically. Between blasts of noise from the ensemble, the baritone sung a 1939 Bolshevik national anthem. After a few minutes, the group left the spine and dispersed throughout campus. The last drum beat was heard at 1:14 p.m. Then it was over. The spine returned to normal. The people who bore witness to the Doomsday were replaced by people who had no idea that the “end of the world” even happened.

According to Gaita, the success of the project relied on finding enough musicians willing to participate. Technical skill wasn’t so important in a piece where people needed to “play anything as loudly or as randomly as possible.” Gaita needed bodies — anyone with a pot or pan could be a musician.

“I’m tired … I’m tired of the way that everyone sees that way that college way is ‘supposed to be,’ because everyone sees what we’re doing here as something that’s repetitive,” Gaita said. “If just one person realizes from this experience that things don’t have to be the way we think they should be, I’ll be satisfied.”

If anything can be learned from the Doomsday Symphony project, it’s to wake up, people. We do the same things everyday. We are slaves to the industrial schedule. We all have things we “need” to do, but we all have things we “want” to do too. We can walk like drones in our phones on paved pathways everyday for four years, then what? Look up, speak up, and seize the day. Carpe diem. So be unconventional. Be spontaneous. It’s the end of the world, what will you do with it?