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Indian Music Experience (IME) is India’s first interactive music museum in Bengaluru. This extraordinaire leaves you awestruck.
Experiential Space For Music
Music is magical. What’s even more so, is this one-of-a-kind museum dedicated to music. Founded by music proponents and stalwarts like Manasi Prasad (a Carnatic vocalist), it introduces India to the concept of music coming to life. Because here, you don’t just listen to music, you touch and play the instruments, read about the history of music and watch performances.
The museum is inspired by the Museum of Pop Culture (also known as the Experience Music Project) in Seattle, USA. It’s been founded with the sole aim to enable people to appreciate the diversity and rich heritage of Indian music. The non-profit Indian Music Experience Trust, supported by the Brigade Group, has made this museum a reality. It took 9 years to conceptualize, research and design this structural piece with a soul. Gallagher and Associates, who also helped create the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, put together its design. Svaram, along with designer Michael Foley, co-created the Sound Garden. The museum, spread across a lavish 50,000 sq.ft., has 9 internationally designed exhibit galleries and 108 musical instruments on display.
One of the museum’s highlights is its Sound Garden that has 9 installations. Made entirely from natural materials, the installations create different sounds and music. Like, the Humming Stone. It is designed to make music when you stick your head in it and hum. Then there’s the Singing Stone. It emits melodious vibrations when its grooves are massaged with wet hands. The Melody Chime isn’t your ordinary wind chime. In this chime, electromagnetics play the role of the wind. The Sound Wave lets you create music on it with a mallet. And the Sound Railing is like a xylophone. Enjoy making different sound patterns by running your hand along it as you pass by.
The 9 galleries in the museum are dedicated to different themes. Storyboards and instruments showcase the different genres of Indian music, from classical to contemporary, and reveal their origins and journey. There’s a two-storeyed music wall decorated with over a hundred Indian instruments, displays explaining the genres, puppets, songs from the freedom movement, iconic Bollywood scores, and even auto-rickshaws with interactive kiosks. In addition to soaking yourself in this musical universe, you can also make music at the mini studios and mixing consoles.
While the museum showcases music in a unique way, it is also a platform for learning music. Music and dance classes are conducted for kids and soon there’ll be tutorials (and probably even a diploma) for adults. There is a performance theater and seminar hall where events and workshops on shadow storytelling, children’s music and percussion are hosted.
After spending hours exploring this mind-boggling museum, you can unwind at the outdoor café. Its cool, relaxed vibe is just right for feeding more conversations on music.
The Indian Music Experience is a tribute to the deep love that music commands, which has driven its aficionados to create an unexpected landmark.
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Deets
Where: Opp. Wood Rose Club, Brigade Millennium Ave, JP Nagar 7th Phase, Bengaluru 560078, Karnataka
Timings: 10am – 5pm (Tues – Sun. Monday Closed.)
Cost: Tickets start at Rs. 150
Contact: +91 080 4090 8054