Phoenix Musical Instrument Museum

[fgrsk8r1970]

I have been wanting to get my cowboy out of the house a little more since he can't really do much due to his health issues - especially in this crazy heat. The monsoon keeps faking us out with beautiful clouds all around and promises of rain but it just hasn't happened here in NW Phx.

So our newspaper was advertising a French "Festival" (as some of you know I am quite in love with Paris and the Eiffel Tower on the front page of the "Things to do" section caught my eye).
So I read the description and this event was at a museum called MIM (Musical Instrument Museum) which I had never even heard of (shame on me)

We packed the wheel chair since walking is too difficult for my husband for longer than a few minutes and off we went.
The French Experience was part of the admission and they had crafts, live music, face painting for the kids, french food in the cafe and several other exhibits we sadly missed because there was just SO much to see.

They give you a headset and transmitter like in many other museums but these were super cool as they just started to connect with a small box stationed in front of the exhibit and started playing automatically when you were close enough (kinda fading in and out so it wasn't a shock to the ears - really genius)

We started with the historical instrument section that included old pin/hole music boxes from all around the world. I have to look a couple of things up so I don't mess up my information as we got a demonstration of one of the large (full wall/orchestra) ones as well.

We continued to mondern music including instruments and costumes from well known entertainers like Eric Clapton, Elvis, and yes... Taylor Swift amongst them.

Then went upstairs (oh and the whole museum is wonderfully accessible too which makes things easy for us) to see the African and Asian Continent instrument area. It was magical and amazing. A lot of information, music and of course instruments I had never heard of or seen or instruments you kinda have heard of but you can see the beautiful details up close.

Then we visited for a few minutes the area where one can try out different instruments and I hit a very old Chinese gong and it sounded so beautiful and I tried myself on a harp (always was interested in that).

I think we spent almost 2.5 hours and still didn't see everything, so we are excited to go back. They have a similar Mexican Experience at the end of September and Native American one in November.

So here are a few of the photos I took..... I could have spent hours and hours doing that! And here is the website if anyone is interested: www.mim.org

[fgrsk8r1970]

This mechanical musical doll was part of the French Experience




This is a Ukrainian Barrel Organ from 1910


A musical chair for children

more photos coming in a few

[fgrsk8r1970]

beautifully painted back of this instrument (I think a type of ukulele)

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One of the drums used during the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Olympic games


Costumes are part of the exhibit but mostly it really concentrates on instruments - just thought this was cool since it has Elvis's name engraved and my husband is a cowboy!


I am not a Taylor Swift fan at all but I am a sucker for anything glitter and shiny


Africa - part of the recycled instruments exhibit


African flutes, horns, drums and mouth strings





still more to come..... ;D

[htmb]

This looks like a fun event and a great place to wander around while enjoying browsing through the musical instruments rooms. A great place to get in out of the heat, too. I really liked the marimba in the last picture. Was there an admission charge?

[fgrsk8r1970]

I know right?... it was so interesting and it's one of the largest in the US (and I had no idea). Yes it's a little steep but I am willing to pay for something like this - a place that preserves and educates! $18 Adults - no Senior rebate (i was surprised by that) but children are cheaper.
They also have concerts there at times I understand.

[fgrsk8r1970]

[fgrsk8r1970]

OK - last set

[bixaorellana]

SO interesting & SO beautiful & SO amazingly inventive.

Everything looks so well displayed & nicely lighted. It's really cool that you're allowed to handle some of the items. Yes, the admission is pretty high, but the museum certainly seems to be using the money to bring as much as possible to the public. I can't wait for you to go back! I wonder if you can find out about free or reduced price admission days. Most good museums have too much to take in at one time, so it's great to be able to visit often and give all the attention you want to fewer exhibits.

Did you have any of the French food? And what were the French crafts?

[htmb]

I'm really curious to know about the instruments in the last photo, especially those in the far background.

[bixaorellana]

Aren't those Indonesian shadow puppets?

[mich64]

What a fabulous exhibition. You must be so happy that you attended and now know of future events to look forward to. It is wonderful that you found an event like this for you and your husband to attend. The venue sounds like it was equipped adequately for wheelchair access, this is great for future visits.

There were so many intricate pieces to view and it seems you could take a close up view of them. While there were some things behind glass or barricaded but many were just on pedestals, unhindered.

[bjd]

NIce photos and interesting exhibits.

If the last picture of #2 is in the African section, I think it's called a balafon. I can't see well, but I believe they have calebasses underneath for the resonance. I know because we have one at home -- in a box. My husband bought it at a flea market from some Africans years ago.

I just found this article: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balafon

The instrument in the photo above looks as though it has been really renovated.

[Deleted]

The pictures are spectacular, but what is even more spectacular is the way that people around the world have created all sorts of objects to make music. In many cases, I'm sure it was accidental but after a few experiments and some tinkering some truly extraordinary instruments have been created.

[mossie]

A very fascinating and comprehensive exhibition. The artistry shown is excellent.

Thanks for making the effort, pushing a chair round is not the easiest thing to do.

[fgrsk8r1970]

Thank you all
Bixa-we did not have any of the french food as the Cafe was pretty crowded and we kind of got sucked into the exhibits. I kept thinking of going back because it said they'd have macarons, but we never did. It smelled fantastic though LOL.
As far as the crafts - the one we saw was the making of a french rosette - I saw a lot of people wearing it

htmb-yes Bixa is right those are shadow puppets. Some of the exhibits included a more comprehensive picture of not only the instruments but what is part of the culture when playing them (like masks, costumes)

mich64-yes it was great and photography was allowed without flash and I was able to get close to quite a few of them. I actually started out taking close-ups (thinking of this board) but then thought... darn, I can't remember any of these things (and having to push my hubby made writing it down just not possible) so I started to include descriptions or the whole wall LOL.

bjd-yes this was the African section and I am sure you are correct. Some of the clips we were able to see showed the exact instrument being played. I have to do more research on if those get restored (they have an area there that does that, I didn't take a photo of it - next time)

Kerouac-that's what my hubby and I thought too.... we were just in amazement at all the different and inventive some of the instruments are. It was also fun to then see on the little tv screens how some of them are played and how they sound.

mossie-thank you !! yeah a couple of times I saw my husband look for me because I would be taking photos (while he was reading the descriptions and listening to the music) to exhibits behind us. There was just SO much to see!!!

Thank you all again - I am glad I found this little jewel and happy to share with you. it's a paradise for a picture taking fool like my LOL.