History of Musical Instruments

Since becoming involved in the music business I have developed a strong interest in musical instruments of the past and similar thoughts as to what are the recent inventions in the industry. I subscribe to “STRINGS”, a monthly magazine for string (violin, viola, etc.) instruments. Many things have caught my attention; the unique designs (shapes) of violins such as the NS WAV and the Jordan violin (US patent 5, 191, 159).

In 2008 Gibson introduced the Robot guitar that has a self-tuning system called Power-Tune. “Design News” magazine (Feb 25, 2008) has a detailed article on this new guitar.

Also, we should not ignore the significant past history of musical instruments. Museums have done an excellent job in acquiring, preserving and displaying many of these unique instruments. An excellent local museum run by the Schubert Club is in the St. Paul Landmark building but is small in comparison to the National Music Museum in Vermillion, South Dakota; where 14,500 instruments are on display.

Of course we can not forget the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. My favorite exhibit was a circular array of signed drumsticks by all the famous drummers. This year Bob Ulrich (former CEO of Target) built the new Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, Arizona. He also purchased 12,000 musical instruments for this new building. This museum opens April 24, 2010. As these museums are far away, I would suggest that pulling up the website of the National Music Museum in South Dakota and taking a look. Vermillion, South Dakota is located in the southeastern corner and would be a great addition as part of a road trip to Colorado or the Black Hills.