Sound Showers

-Michael Nicholas, Social Media and Marketing Intern

As an intern who was also a visitor to the Museum when I was younger, I have the unique opportunity to look back on how the favorite exhibits of my childhood have changed since I experienced them as a kid.  I remember specifically being drawn to the mUSic gallery, which is now reimagined as “Sound Showers.”  It is still one of my favorite places in the Museum because of how amazed visitors are as they experience sound and music in different ways. 

            Similar to the exhibit configuration that preceded it, the first room of “Sound Showers” is structured like a drum circle that greatly encourages cooperation between visitors who may not have previously known each other. I remember being amazed by how anyone could step up to a drum or marimba without any previous musical experience and could create cohesive music.  I learned recently that it was because the instruments in the room are all tuned to the pentatonic scale so they all work together musically.  It is such a fun experience to be able to make music together with others.

            The other areas in the exhibit, however, were completely new to me returning to the Museum now many years after my last visit.  I discovered the 3D sound room and saw what an amazing place it is for kids to learn to place importance on their sense of hearing even beyond what might normally be considered “music.”  It’s really fun to see visitors realize that they can get visual information through their ears as they describe in detail the image that they create in their heads from the sound effects.  I’ve seen kids be so excited to recognize a train or a cow by the sounds in the room and also so surprised as they really feel the sound of the subwoofer that is placed under the seats.

            The last area of the exhibit is the room devoted to sound and music found in more commonplace objects. This really enforces the message of the exhibit that there is music and rhythm wherever we look.  The accessibility of music made from common objects really encourages kids to be more in tune with the sounds that are around them every day.