A couple of years ago, on a 2000 mile long road-trip across 7 states in USA, I happened to visit the "American Country music Hall of fame" museum in Nashville, Tennessee. I am not a museum buff . So when someone suggested we visit the museum, I had my doubts. Besides, I had never listened to a lot of country music in my life and did not know any well known American country music star. After much thought, I said to myself , maybe its worth giving it a try, 'cause there wasn't much to do in Nashville that day anyway!
I am a very average guy when it comes to understanding and appreciating music and while I do enjoy music of all genres,languages and cultures, neither do I understand the subtle nuances in music nor do I spend much time in understanding it in such detail. When it comes to music I can only nod my head and tap my feet. So going to the museum was a strange experience for me. However there were two things that impressed me immensely about the museum. One was the lighting arrangement in the museum and the other acoustics. Different sections in the museum were carved intelligently and designed to help transition from one section to the next almost effortlessly. The lighting arrangement in each of these sections was unique and helped develop the mood for the genre of music. I salute the curators of the museum who had put in great amount of effort and time to arrange the display in the museum.
It has been almost two and a half years since I paid a visit to the museum, and if you are wondering what on earth made me write this blog, it happens to be a case study that I came across as part of my course at XLRI. The case is about Audio spotlight, a technology that can create a musical spotlight: a small beam of sound that can be heard only by the person who is standing within the beam of a sound-gun. Imagine standing up in the beam of light of a projector in a cinema theater. I recall the sheer amazement I and my friend Sudi had that day when we happened to listen to music from different country singers playing in the same section within a few feet of each other. We were not able to listen to the other song when we not below one of the speaker phones playing it. We were simply spellbound. Today, after two and a half years, the mystery has finally been solved! It was the genius of Dr. Joseph Pompei that led to this far reaching technology that enabled "American country hall of fame" museum to have so many different songs playing in a small area of a room without causing a cacophony and without disturbing others listening to another song in the same section. One could maintain the silence of a museum atmosphere and yet listen to the songs from different artists on display. Hats off! to Dr. Pompei for his marvelous innovation! Sometimes technology becomes invisible in our day to day lives. Yet, along comes a day when a certain technology makes you stand up and take notice. I haven't seen the movie "Avatar" but I am sure it had the same "wow" effect on the audience as the acoustic effect that the "American country music hall of fame" had on me.
Another experience that will always stay in my mind is the record by by Jimmie Rogers that I happened to listen to in one of the kiosks. Next to the record player was a bit of history about the song. It said "this is one of the earliest American country music songs to use 'Yodelling'". I keep wondering if the "yodeli yodeli yoho yedli yodli ho" of Kishore Kumar has something to do with the record that lay out there. Maybe he drew inspiration after listening to one such composition. Two years have gone by, but the acoustic experience in the hall of fame museum and the "Yodelling" melody remains as fresh as ever in my mind. The case on audio spotlight has revived some wonderful memories for me once again.
A year after visiting the Nashivlle Hall of Fame museum, I happened to visit another very well-known museum in Paris: "The Louvre". I haven't seem many other museums but even after seeing the world famous "Mona Lisa" at Louvre, nothing comes close to the magic that "Country music hall of fame" was able to generate for me that day. What they have achieved to do in that limited space is nothing short of magic. It is one of the finest museums I have seen and I would recommend it to everyone, music lover or otherwise. I have never seen a better arrangement of lighting and acoustics in any one place ever. Listening is believing!
What a coincidence! A minute after posting this blog, I was pinged by Sudi who talks to me once in a few months! I promptly sent him the link to my blog. And he fondly remembers that experience.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting. This would be hte next in think over the next 5-10 yrs. 'Sound beams'- sound that behaves like light! really interesting.
ReplyDeleteI would obviously love to visit this museum. Lets see if i ever get to do that. Currently first target is to set foot outside Asia :-)