Inspiration: Musical Instrument Museum

Did you know that there’s a Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix? I’d known about it for a while but never had the chance to visit it, as my time up in Phoenix was usually jam-packed with dance happenings. However, we’re currently entertaining my in-laws who have escaped the frigid confines of NY for some sunshine and fun, and they thought MIM sounded like a fun thing to do on our daytrip to Phoenix, so I finally visited.

I had this image in my mind of MIM as a very small specialty museum, kind of like the Bead Museum that used to be in Glendale. When I read that they recommended at least 4 hours to see the whole thing, I figured that was probably an exaggeration. Well, we were there for 2.5-3 hours and we didn’t even see half of it!

This is a huge, two-level museum that is divided into regions of the world. I of course wanted to see the Middle Eastern section (more on that later), and we had to go through Africa to reach it. Many of Africa’s countries were represented, with musical instruments and some dance regalia, and information on the different influential tribes in each country and the evolution of their musical traditions.

At most museums, I have zero interest in using the little Walkman-like radios they give you, preferring to read and go at my own pace, but at MIM the audio is tied to video clips in almost every display, showing the music and dance of the region. Curious about what that unusual-looking instrument sounds like? It might just be in one of the informative clips. Without this touch, I feel like the museum would not have been nearly as interesting, because while many of the instruments were beautiful in form, of course sound is their primary function.

And yet… in some ways, the audio recordings overwhelmed me. I stopped and listened to/watched almost every clip in the Middle Eastern section, soaking up some inspiration. Although the Egypt section was currently under maintenance and only had the video screen up with no actual instruments on display, the rest of the small exhibit was packed with ouds and riqs and neys and more. The video clips included a live Oum Kalthoum performance and so many gorgeous oud solos. But the problem was, you only got a little snippet of each song! Because I have a pretty strong emotional reaction to good music, this actually made me very anxious… I felt like instead of getting the natural progression of riding along with a song from start to finish, I was in a constant state of being pulled along by the most emotional parts of a song, without being calmed down by a nice ending. Does that make sense?

I feel like to really do this museum justice, you need to be there all day, and you need to give yourself some breaks. There are plenty of benches out in the hallway, and a restaurant downstairs, and outdoor seating, and a gift store, so there’s ways to take yourself out of the music and decompress. It would be a good idea to bring a journal or sketchbook to jot down any sudden inspiration.

I definitely want to go back to MIM again and see the parts I missed. There’s currently a special exhibit of drums that we opted not to check out, since we were on a limited time frame.

One thing to keep in mind if you are also planning on visiting MIM is that it is way way on the north side of Phoenix. It’s still within Phoenix itself, but it’s way out there and there’s not a lot of other stuff around it, so plan your day accordingly!