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A scene from the Funk Blast “ride” through the history of funk music (click image for larger view).

Current Exhibits Include:
“Guitar Gallery: The Quest for Volume” displays 55 guitars chronicling the history of the electric guitar. This installation features an Italian guitar from the 1770s, a 1936 Audiovox Bass fiddle (the first electric bass ever made, which just happened to be manufactured in Seattle) and celebrates such guitar innovators as Orville Gibson, Leo Fender and Les Paul.

“Northwest Passage” explores the history of rock music in the Northwest, featuring a display on the race for fame between Paul Revere & The Raiders and The Kingsmen. Both bands hailed from Portland and both recorded “Louie Louie.” One of them wore silly suits and had a TV show. Not surprisingly, rock superstars such as Heart, Queensryche and Nirvana are displayed prominently.

It’s no secret that Paul Allen is a huge Jimi Hendrix fan. Allen’s personal collection of Hendrix memorabilia is displayed in the Jimi Hendrix Gallery, and includes a Jimi Hendrix Experience stage setup complete with drum kit, amps, bass, guitar and an outfit worn by Hendrix. Mix readers will be delighted to glimpse one of the custom-made Datamix consoles from Hendrix’s original Electric Lady studio.

The Sound Lab kiosk
(click image for larger view).

“Milestones” covers the history of rock from 1940 to the present. The focus of this exhibit is on three key innovators—Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton and Janis Joplin—but every genre reaps its own, including punk and rap, and I was particularly pleased to see an acrylic Dan Armstrong guitar used by Greg Ginn of Black Flag included in the exhibit.

“Funk Blast” is an amusement park-style “ride” using a programmable hydraulic seating area enhanced by a widescreen video, which creates the feeling of catapulting through time tunnels to witness funk music masters in motion.

My favorite gallery was the “Sound Lab”—a technical achievement of the highest order, thanks to Andrea Weatherhead (director of Interactive Development). Sound Lab exhibits are unique in their nontraditional use of MIDI, of musical instruments as input/output devices and what EMP calls “electromechanical interactives” to create a musical experience that immerses the visitor in the music-making process. Featuring the new E-mu APS soundcards to provide grander acoustic sounds triggered by MIDI was a great idea, because the soundcards often replace the need for sound modules, allowing for better use of the gallery space. In Sound Lab’s main room are several kiosks where visitors can learn to play a guitar, keyboard or drums, and EMP uses MIDI to develop connections between the PCs and the instruments. As the PC “talks” to an instrument, it can judge whether or not the visitor has hit the right note. If not on key, the PC provides more practice time and will play an example over again for the “learner.” If correct notes are played, the PC moves appropriately forward. The novice “musicians” around me were having a blast!

Reprinted with permission from

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