Many Interesting Moments at the Musical Instrument Museum

It was no great sacrifice for me, but you know I had to take Dear Husband to something called the "Musical Instrument Museum."

"Music is the language of the soul." ~Motto for the Musical Instrument Museum

The brainchild of Bob Ulrich, one-time CEO of Target, MIM owns 10,000 musical instruments from around the world, from agungs (gong-shaped drums) to zithers, music boxes to theremins. They have tried to create a collection that represents both common and elite cultures, and an experience that--while heavily visual--also encourages listening and touching. Admission includes a headset that automatically picks up radio transmission from large, flat-screen TVs playing snippets from performances, interviews, and/or musicology field recordings.

For instance, this is a video depicting Korean ribbon hat dancing,

something I had never seen before and that reminded me of rhythmic gymnastics.

We started our visit in the Treasures special exhibit, about a hundred instruments from different times and places that are special for some reason--very old, only extant copy, or exquisitely made. 

The very fine mosaic work on this modern drum took 2,000 hours!

Then we walked through an alcove filled with guitars, another with a sampling of instruments, and finally a short intro video.

Kong mon from Thailand--funeral instrument played with the red stick in the foreground

Upstairs we learned about Japanese theater and religious music, North and South Korea, then several regions of China and of India, and other nearby countries. I was humbled to realize I had no conception of how to differentiate any of these genres, all of which sound "Indian" or "Chinese" to me.

This is a 19th-century peacock-shaped Sikh lute.

It was time for lunch in the courtyard, and the photo of my meal was briefly featured on the cafe Yelp! webpage.

I'm sure the wall of accordions next to a wall of bagpipes was not coincidental!

Next we walked through the section on Europe, paying particular attention to the Czech Republic and Austria, as well as to keyboard instruments. 

DH was disappointed not to see an example of a particular early piano. That section transitioned into the United States/Canada room, which had a number of thematic booths (e.g. Steinway & Sons, various recording studios) rather than state-based displays.

Downstairs we tried the string and percussion instruments in the experiential gallery (aka "the kids' room"--there were a lot of big kids like us) before walking through the hall of mechanical instruments on our way on out. 

Next visit we'll have to see the rest of Asia, all of Africa and Latin America, and the few smaller galleries, such as one on famous musicians.

Actually, we'll be back later in the week for a guitar concert. Until then, you should feel free to click through the rest of my photos here; there are also a couple short videos of me trying out the gongs and maracas.