News Releases

Panadigm Innovations Ltd makes first sale of P.H.I.

For Release Upon Receipt - March 23, 2010

St. Augustine


A local private school has become the first school to buy the world’s newest instrument. On March 22nd, 2010, St Xavier’s primary school, in St Joseph, Trinidad, purchased the Percussive Harmonic Instrument (P.H.I.) from Panadigm Innovations Ltd. (PIL), makers of the P.H.I. and G-pan. 

St Xavier's students were introduced to the P.H.I. at a workshop facilitated by Mr Earle Philip, one of the instrument’s inventors. The school has a strong music curriculum, and many of its alumni play for junior and large steel bands throughout Trinidad and Tobago. At the October 2009 workshop, the St Xavier students were able to transfer their knowledge of steel pan performance to the P.H.I. Based on the overwhelming response and enthusiasm shown by the students, the school principal, Sister Annetta Alexander, placed an order for two P.H.I.s.

A spokesperson for PIL commended St. Xavier’s Private School for being “a true leader in education”, and expressed the hope that “many schools will follow their lead and provide their students with tools such as the P.H.I. to enhance learning.”

For more information on the P.H.I., click www.panadigm.com, e-mail sales@panadigm.com or search for “P.H.I.” on Facebook.

For the latest UWI News, click http://sta.uwi.edu/news.

About P.H.I.

The P.H.I. is the very first “electronic pan” ever created and patented. It is what is known in the music world as a MIDI controller, although its physical form is inspired by the ingenuity of the traditional steel pan. MIDI controllers allow musicians to utilise equipment on a MIDI digital network to create, perform and manipulate music. Through MIDI, the P.H.I. provides the player with access to a limitless range of instrument tones, including steel pan, piano, sitar, as well as a range of percussion tones. These tones can be played on a full three octaves of notes laid out on the familiar cycle of the 4ths and 5ths, commonly used on the tenor steel pan. Note shapes, locations and sizes are ergonomically designed and notes can be transposed anywhere in the musical range allowing the musician to easily switch from a tenor steel pan to a double second, cello, guitar or bass. All of this takes place on a single bowl or drum, making the P.H.I. a highly portable instrument when compared to the traditional steel pan.

About UWI

Over the last six decades, The University of the West Indies (UWI) has evolved from a fledgling college in Jamaica with 33 students to a full-fledged University with over 40,000 students. Today, UWI is the largest and most longstanding higher education provider in the English-speaking Caribbean, with main campuses in Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago, and Centres in Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, The Bahamas, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St Christopher (St Kitts) & Nevis, St Lucia, and St Vincent & the Grenadines. UWI recently launched its Open Campus, a virtual campus with over 50 physical site locations across the region, serving over 20 countries in the English-speaking Caribbean. UWI is an international university with faculty and students from over 40 countries and collaborative links with over 60 universities around the world. Through its seven Faculties, UWI offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree options in Engineering, Humanities & Education, Law, Medical Sciences, Pure & Applied Sciences, Science and Agriculture, and Social Sciences.

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