Feel the Power of Music in the Amazing Music Studio at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis from February 1-May 26, 2003
Bright lights flood the stage. The familiar bass and kick drum rhythm starts playing in the background. Out of the shadow steps an energetic and dynamic performer singing a favorite rock'n roll song. You take a moment to look around and then you notice that the one belting out the lyrics is you! You are a rock'n roll star! You have hundreds of admiring fans watching you from all around the exhibit. Wait a minute — the exhibit? Isn't this a concert? No, it's the brand-new exhibit at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis! Amazing Music Studio is an international traveling exhibit that brings all the glitz and glamour of rock'n roll into a fun and educational experience all about music.
 Music is part of the fabric of life, both an art and a science. Music is something we all participate in, either as producers, performers or listeners. Amazing Music Studio explores this universal, mysterious subject from different angles -- its physics, its technology, its history, its artists and ourselves, the audience. Your hosts into this unique view of the world of music are some of the most famous and infamous faces of rock'n roll. The exhibit is a blend of some of the most recognizable images of artists like U2, Jimi Hendrix, and The Beatles with over 30 interactive experiments and hands-on activities.
The exhibit is categorized into four areas: Studio Science, Science of Sound, Music History and Rock On! (the art and science of performance). Within these areas children and families are encouraged to work together to create their own superstar experience. Visitors will be able to use technology, science-based interactives and museum collections to help them understand what really goes on behind the music. Here is a sampling of a few of the activities in each area.
 Scratch It: Learn how to control and reverse turntables to create new sounds and rhythms, like club DJs. Two turntables play simultaneously, one at a fixed speed, while the other can be controlled manually to mix the two together.
 Star In/Direct Your Own Music Video: Perform in front of a giant chromakey screen, picking any of 15 dance favorites including Abba's "Dancing Queen" and Britney Spear's "Baby One More Time." On the other side of the dance floor, visitors choose appropriate video clips to accompany the performers, switching between 15 buttons, each with different video or visual effects.
DIY Disco: Dance through light beams, setting off sounds to create your own sound and light disco.
 In Studio Science we put you behind the scenes and in control. How do your favorite songs make it onto records, tapes and CDs? Use a computer and microphone to work through the stages by which sound is captured magnetically. Discover the link between microphone and speaker using electrical fields and try it yourself. Move over to the mixing desk to practice sound mixing using four-track techniques on an original recording from The Hollies. Use an interactive computer program to experience the difference between mono and stereo sounds. Find out how digital sampling effects CD recording. Explore the work of acclaimed rock concert designer Mark Fisher. Get up close with a Trabant used in U2's Zooropa tour and watch footage from concerts produced for The Rolling Stones and U2.
- Mixing Desk: Practice simple sound mixing using four-track technique on an original recording of The Hollies' "He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother." The song is presented with the instruments recorded onto four separate tracks. Adjust the balance by moving volume levers corresponding to each track.
- Stereo Stereo: Discover the techniques that enable the creation of 3-D sound. Visitors experience mono and stereo sound, and experiment with different effects by moving the position of the sound source.
- Digital Sampling: This is a highly intuitive, touch-screen, computer-based activity allowing visitors to experiment with digitized music. It demonstrates the differences between sampling rates and how they affect CD recording.
 Next, pick up some good vibrations in Science of Sound. Here, it's all about the basics of what makes the music you love. Grab a partner and test your listening skills at the whisper dishes. Try to solve the puzzle of a musical stairway to heaven. Find out how your brain perceives sound and sound patterns. Exhibit elements and special gallery programs will help you learn all about the physics of sound.
- Hear Hear!: Toot a horn in a giant model ear, the eardrum visibly vibrates and an electronic connection lights a graphic of the brain. Discover how the ear captures and transmits sounds.
- Whisper Dishes: Visitors whisper into giant parabolic dishes, supplied with stands and stairs up to the dish.
- Wait and Hear: When you talk or sing, your brain checks what your vocal cords are doing. This activity uses a special handset to delay your voice, so that you hear what you just said immediately after you say it. This double feedback confuses the brain and makes it almost impossible to continue speaking.
After learning all about how music is made you'll be ready to learn about the people who make it. In Music History you will be able to see how much music has changed over the years, and in some cases how it hasn't changed at all. Take a virtual tour into one of the most infamous recording studios of all time- Abbey Road. Become part of an international survey and vote for your favorite number one hit. See how your choices compare to those from cities like London, Amsterdam and more. How rock'n roll is Frank Sinatra? Find out how popular artists and their songs get a new life in cover versions. Museum collections from the 60's, 70's and 80's are highlighted along with a musical timeline featuring songs from artists like The Supreme's, ABBA and Madonna. Get a once in a lifetime chance to see over 100 photographs of rock and pop stars that have never been seen in the U.S. before! A special showing of The Rock'n Roll Years, courtesy of Proud Galleries, London, makes its debut in Indianapolis at The Children's Museum.
- Favorite Number One: Visitors use a touch screen to select their favorite top hits from the last 40 years. After hearing a short selection, they can compare their choices with others of their generation.
- Vintage Vinyl: Listening posts allow visitors to hear a selection of popular recordings from the last half century. Each post supports a showcase of costumes relating to the '50s, '60s, '70s and '80s, with information written by noted pop-styles author Ted Polhemus.
- Cover Versions: Listen to familiar songs from the '50s and early '60s released by different artists, sometime almost simultaneously, and to more contemporary versions of the songs up to the present day.
 Then,
the moment you've been waiting for, your 15 minutes of fame! Rock On!
turns the spotlight on you as the performer. Put on your dancing shoes
and get ready to star in your own music video! Choose from a variety of
backgrounds and music from artists like Britney Spears, Tom Jones, The
Rolling Stones and Run DMC. Once you've busted a move, get ready to sing
for your fans in the karaoke shower! Select songs by Elvis, Cher, The
Beach Boys, Gloria Gaynor and more as you sing in the one place you sound
the best — the shower. Don't worry, there's no water, but there is
plenty of fun as your audience gets to manipulate your voice into some
out of this world sounds.
Whether you are an aspiring musician or would rather be in the audience, Amazing Music Studio is the place to be to learn everything you need to know about the universal world of music!
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Amazing Music Studio was developed by Tourwest Ltd., London, |
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