MIM - A Must For All Music Lovers
Have you ever visited the MIM (Musical Instrument Museum) in Phoenix? If you're at all into music and history, you should visit it posthaste if you're in the Valley area. If you're not in town, plan on visiting it the next time you're here.
It's an immersive experience. They have the world divided up by region then country and give you headsets that automatically play as you get close to an exhibit. Nearly every exhibit had audio and/or video of someone playing they type if instrument displayed if not playing the actual instrument.
I first went several years ago and thought it was very impressive then but they've collected countless more instruments and created many new exhibits. My Bestie from Minnesota visited last weekend and we were there close to opening time on Friday morning and spent 3 hours and 20 minutes with only washroom breaks and couldn't get through everything. It's at least a 5 hour adventure if you're like us and want to explore every word and sound.
A favorite place is the Experience Gallery where you can strum guitars, banjos, ukes, play xylophones, drums and gongs, try castanets and like instruments and probably some other things we missed.
The Artist Gallery is worth the price of admission on its own. Johnny Cash, Tito Puente, John Denver, Buddy Guy, Ravi Shankar - the list is long and impressive.
The first exhibit as you enter the Artist Gallery is on the CMA Awards and a very perky docent approached us to gush about it all. She asked us if we knew anyone featured and I promptly said, "We know Mac McAnally. He's a great guy." Yeah, I know Mac as in he's nicely posed for pictures with me on several occasions, but, hey, she didn't need those details. Jim told me later, "I'm surprised you didn't show her a picture of you and Mac." Little did I know, Jake Shimabukuro was also featured or I would have name dropped him, too. :)
There are so many incredible things to see that I could have taken 100 pictures but I limited myself to just a few.
We missed most of Latin America, Europe and the United States/Canada because we were meeting a friend for lunch and he started texting me that he was hungry. Not completing the complete circuit is definitely an incentive for me to go back and see all of the rest.
It's an immersive experience. They have the world divided up by region then country and give you headsets that automatically play as you get close to an exhibit. Nearly every exhibit had audio and/or video of someone playing they type if instrument displayed if not playing the actual instrument.
So. Much.
I first went several years ago and thought it was very impressive then but they've collected countless more instruments and created many new exhibits. My Bestie from Minnesota visited last weekend and we were there close to opening time on Friday morning and spent 3 hours and 20 minutes with only washroom breaks and couldn't get through everything. It's at least a 5 hour adventure if you're like us and want to explore every word and sound.
A favorite place is the Experience Gallery where you can strum guitars, banjos, ukes, play xylophones, drums and gongs, try castanets and like instruments and probably some other things we missed.
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| Making music. |
The Artist Gallery is worth the price of admission on its own. Johnny Cash, Tito Puente, John Denver, Buddy Guy, Ravi Shankar - the list is long and impressive.
The first exhibit as you enter the Artist Gallery is on the CMA Awards and a very perky docent approached us to gush about it all. She asked us if we knew anyone featured and I promptly said, "We know Mac McAnally. He's a great guy." Yeah, I know Mac as in he's nicely posed for pictures with me on several occasions, but, hey, she didn't need those details. Jim told me later, "I'm surprised you didn't show her a picture of you and Mac." Little did I know, Jake Shimabukuro was also featured or I would have name dropped him, too. :)
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| A guitar belonging to one of me dear friends, Mac McAnally. They also have one of his CMA Awards in the exhibit. |
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| Photographic evidence of my association with my dear friend, Mac McAnally. |
There are so many incredible things to see that I could have taken 100 pictures but I limited myself to just a few.
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| Now, that's a standup bass. Behind Jim is a stool for the artist to stand on while playing. |
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| Minimalist guitar. |
We missed most of Latin America, Europe and the United States/Canada because we were meeting a friend for lunch and he started texting me that he was hungry. Not completing the complete circuit is definitely an incentive for me to go back and see all of the rest.
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