M I M

Jake Shimabukuro's tenor ukelele is displayed in the Artist Gallery.  This Gallery Displays instruments made famous by specific people or events.  Here you'll find guitars played by Eric Clapton, Dick Dale, and Carlos Santana as well as a drum set of the Black-Eyed Peas.  The is a drum from the Olympic Games held in China and the piano used by John Lennon when composing Imagine.

M. I. M., the Musical Instrument Museum of Phoenix, AZ, uses unique wireless technology to inform you about exhibits.  As part of the ticket price is an electronic device, about thesize of a cell phone you wear around your neck.  The device is activated  when you come near an exhibit.  Not only to you see the instrument, you hear it as well.

The carved head of a sitar

A thumb  piano, a mbira.

Almost every exhibit has a flat screen video display about the instrument you are viewing. Some show the actual manufacture by primitive methods of the instrument. And of course there are many performances by native people and ethnic groups.

The museum has other galleries designated Geo Galleries which is to say therein are the instruments for music making from various countries of the world. It is fascinating to see some other instruments of primitive cultures hand crafted with primitive tools. In

one instance the manufacture of a thumb piano begins with the felling of a tree in an African forest. All parts are fabricated by hand with crude tools.  A video of guitar manufacturing from the Martin Guitar Company shows modern manufacturing methods used to produce musical instruments. In these Geo Galleries are also displays by musical instrument manufacturers such as Fender, Martin and Steinway as well as providing insight into cultures from around the world.

The Experience Gallery allows visitors to gain first hand experience with some instruments. There are guitars, drums, harps, xylophones and other instruments to play.  The gong is always a favorite. I suppose the loud sound feeds some primeval need in young boys and old men.

Also in this 190,000 square foot complex there is a special exhibition area, a music theater, classrooms, gift shops, and cafe. It is not a place for a quick visit. We spent the afternoon there and felt we should have planned on a longer visit.



Vielle a roue (wheel organ)

Rouen, Upper Normandy 18th c.

 There are more photographs or the Musical Instrument Museum here.
Check out the M. I. M. on line and the National Music Museum