Sound and Music in Museums

Last year at New Zealand’s Auckland Museum visitors could enjoy the exhibitions while listening to music inspired by the historic and artistic artifacts. They called it the Sonic Museum. I missed it, but I still think it is worth a mention, as it crosses the bridge between the whisper quiet environment of museums on one hand and sound and music on the other.  

Exhibiting sound art and installations as we see them a lot on Everyday Listening will create a completely different experience in a museum and should be handled with great care. I love the relative silence among a group of people as it feels like a way of paying respect to the works of art. That said, incorporating sound and music could change the way we perceive an exhibition and make it a more personal experience. 

Once I visited the Leopold Museum in Vienna, and during my visit a young girl was giving a violin concert in one of the halls. The sound of the violin spread through the corridors and the open spaces and lured me towards the source of the sound. It was one of the most beautiful performances I have ever heard. Because her playing was extraordinary, but maybe also because of the space, which was quiet again an hour later, like all the other museum halls. Paintings make no sound. And between all those silent halls and only for a short period of time, the wonderful sound of this violin filled the air.

The aim of the Sonic Museum in Auckland was to find out how the music would alter the experience of looking. They asked nine well known New Zealand artists to compose music for a specific part of the exhibition. Visitors could rent an audio player with headphones at the museum, or download the tracks from the museum website prior to their visit. 

It would have been nice to visit the Sonic Museum and find out how the composer’s interpretation of the exhibition would match, or influence my own feelings about it. Wearing headphones might also allow visitors to have a greater focus as they eliminate the sound of the space around them, and create a new, personal sonic world.

Have a look at the Sonic Museum website to learn more about the artists and listen to a sample of their music.