New Korg synthesiser gallery opens at the Musical Museum

18 September 2024

The Musical Museum (Brentford, London) has opened a new gallery dedicated to Korg synthesisers and drum machines.

The museum's original collection tells the story of recorded and reproduced music. It includes a Violano, a combination of a violin and a 44-key piano which plays itself using music rolls. The Orchestrion from 1910 is a coin-operated mini-orchestra, performing music rolls with its built-in piano, xylophone, glockenspiel, drums, cymbal and triangle. The first thing you see when you arrive at the museum is a cabinet dedicated to Fisher Price toys, including the record player I loved as a child with its colourful disks of nursery rhymes.

Now, the collection has been brought up to date with a room packed with Korg instruments, many of which include sequencers for automating the playback of music parts. The killer feature? They're here to be played! A museum staff member said that you can ask for any of them to be switched on.

As well as modern instruments such as the Volca series of affordable and compact synths, there are classic synths such as the Korg MS-20 (with a wonderful oversized blackboard variant for use in Japanese classrooms), the Electribe sampler, and the Korg M1, which was used on Madonna's Vogue. At the launch event yesterday, visitors had an opportunity to try the PS-3300 recreation for the first time in the UK. This is an upcoming reissue of 1977's ultra-rare synth, used by Jean-Michel Jarre and Gary Numan, now with some added preset buttons to get you started.

The main gallery also has an original 1930 theremin you can play, and a concert hall with a Wurlitzer. This was masterfully demonstrated yesterday with a performance that included a song from The Phantom of the Opera and Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody.

The museum is well worth visiting if you have an interest in electronic music or recorded music. There are three main rooms in the museum, including the new Korg gallery, making it one of London's smaller museums. They are currently running a fundraiser and are interested in meeting new volunteers, so get in touch if you think can help.

Thank you to the museum staff and volunteers, performing musicians and the team from Korg for a great day at the launch event yesterday.

Play my album Artificial, which explores what happens beyond artificial intelligence when the machines get emotions. My novel Earworm tells the story of a record label that uses computer-generated music to manipulate both artists and fans.

The gallery is organised chronologically, with posters and promotional materials displayed above the instruments.

For the first time in the UK, the PS-3300 recreation.

A bank of Korg Volca devices you can tinker with. Some of these are also on sale in the museum shop.

The Korg MS-20 Blackboard version, mounted on the wall. How cool would it have been to have had one of these in your classroom?

Permanent link for this post | Blog Home | Website Home | Email feedback

Dip into the blog archive

June 2005 | September 2005 | January 2006 | March 2006 | April 2006 | May 2006 | June 2006 | July 2006 | August 2006 | September 2006 | October 2006 | November 2006 | December 2006 | February 2007 | March 2007 | April 2007 | May 2007 | June 2007 | July 2007 | August 2007 | September 2007 | October 2007 | November 2007 | December 2007 | January 2008 | February 2008 | March 2008 | April 2008 | May 2008 | June 2008 | July 2008 | August 2008 | September 2008 | October 2008 | November 2008 | December 2008 | January 2009 | February 2009 | March 2009 | April 2009 | May 2009 | June 2009 | July 2009 | August 2009 | September 2009 | October 2009 | November 2009 | December 2009 | January 2010 | February 2010 | March 2010 | April 2010 | May 2010 | June 2010 | August 2010 | September 2010 | October 2010 | November 2010 | December 2010 | March 2011 | April 2011 | May 2011 | June 2011 | July 2011 | August 2011 | September 2011 | October 2011 | November 2011 | December 2011 | January 2012 | February 2012 | March 2012 | June 2012 | July 2012 | August 2012 | September 2012 | October 2012 | December 2012 | January 2013 | February 2013 | March 2013 | April 2013 | June 2013 | July 2013 | August 2013 | September 2013 | October 2013 | November 2013 | December 2013 | January 2014 | February 2014 | March 2014 | April 2014 | May 2014 | June 2014 | July 2014 | August 2014 | September 2014 | October 2014 | November 2014 | December 2014 | January 2015 | February 2015 | March 2015 | April 2015 | May 2015 | June 2015 | September 2015 | October 2015 | December 2015 | January 2016 | February 2016 | March 2016 | May 2016 | July 2016 | August 2016 | September 2016 | October 2016 | November 2016 | December 2016 | January 2017 | July 2017 | August 2017 | October 2017 | November 2017 | January 2018 | February 2018 | August 2018 | October 2018 | November 2018 | December 2018 | January 2019 | March 2019 | June 2019 | August 2019 | September 2019 | October 2019 | January 2020 | February 2020 | March 2020 | April 2020 | May 2020 | June 2020 | September 2020 | October 2020 | December 2020 | January 2021 | February 2021 | May 2021 | June 2021 | October 2021 | November 2021 | December 2021 | January 2022 | February 2022 | March 2022 | May 2022 | July 2022 | August 2022 | September 2022 | December 2022 | March 2023 | April 2023 | May 2023 | June 2023 | October 2023 | November 2023 | January 2024 | February 2024 | May 2024 | June 2024 | July 2024 | September 2024 | October 2024 | Top of this page |