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Rhythm! Discovery Center
Category: Arts & Entertainment Museums Museums [Edit]
110 W Washington StSte A
Indianapolis, IN 46204
(317) 974-4488
- Hours:
Mon-Sat 10 am - 5 pm
Sun 12 pm - 5 pm
One review for Rhythm! Discovery Center
1 review in English
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Review from Tristan S.
Broad Ripple, IN
11/25/2009
The Rhythm! Discovery Center is a great place to spend a few hours if you like making noise by hitting things.
My wife & I attended the grand opening last Saturday. We'd heard Jason McGerr, Death Cab for Cutie's drummer, would be there, and I've always been a percussion enthusiast. Plus, admission was free that day, so we decided to check it out.
It's easy to miss the place if you don't know it's underneath the Weber Grill Restaurant. The only sign on the door was a 8.5"x11" printed page on the glass, so hopefully they remedy this to draw more people in. I love the place but would hate to see it fold for lack of promotion.
At any rate, it's a great way to spend some time. The entrance, with its orange plexiglass squares, is enticing. And the giant drum Remo drum head - much taller than the average person (or any person?) - is worth going for alone. Shortly after entering, you have the chance to hit the thing and produce an impressive series of bass vibrations. Ditto with some giant wind chimes. I hope no one abuses the things and makes them off-limits to responsible people.
Interactivity and a focus on history are the best things about the place. It reminds me of the Children's Museum, with static "Do Not Touch" displays, but also plenty of fun things to take advantage of. The Discovery Center is basically a small museum, with a series of displays of percussion instruments from different times and cultures, along with descriptions of why they're important to our history.
Strangely, the majority of the display-only pieces are within grabbing distance, and in spite of the "don't touch" signage, I imagine it's only a matter of time before someone breaks one of the pieces, or worse, steals it, and causes the facility to rethink its currently tasteful, simple displays.
Towards the end of the museum, there's a small nook with a bunch of cubby holes, each filled with different instruments to play. This was my favorite aspect of the museum. They had bells and drums I'd never seen before, and I could've spent hours there. But the place was filled to the brim with kids, so we didn't stay long. An interactive space like this would tremendously benefit from being bigger; this was probably the thing that could use a lot of improvement or reconsideration, as there seems to be plenty of other space where they could have put a bigger interactive area.
We next went to some of the sound-proof rooms, which had things like timpanis, crash cymbals, and even a full drum set. It looked like the rooms had acoustic settings that could be changed to echo different environments, but unfortunately due to the number of people there, I didn't have time to play with it.
Overall, this is an awesome place for a percussionist to go and learn about the history and have some fun with things that are meant to be hit. It's probably a good place for kids to go too, judging by the number of them in the interactive areas, though if you're without kids, I recommend trying to find a more off-hours time than when we went, around 1pm on a Saturday.
This place is yet another reason why I'm proud to live in Indy.
Specialties
Rhythm! Discovery Center is the world's foremost percussion museum providing innovative programs; interactive, standards-based educational exhibits; and artist performances. Drawing upon cultures from around the world, the Center offers a unique, engaging experience to explore the universality of rhythm and percussion and its role in shaping communication, music, art, performance and society. Walking through the visually captivating exhibit rooms and performance venue, guests are invited to fulfill their dreams of being a percussionists.
Rhythm! Discovery Center welcomes you to make your own music and Find Your Rhythm!
History
Established in 2009
Since opening its doors in August 1992, the Percussive Arts Museum has become one of the most extensive and important collections of percussion instruments in the world today. The hands-on exhibits and unique displays of rare and beautiful percussion instruments from around the world offer something of interest for everyone.
The Percussive Arts Museum is part of the 13,000-square-foot Percussive Arts Society (PAS) international headquarters. Funding for the facility came from matching grants from the McMahon Foundation, with financial assistance and instrument donations provided by PAS members around the world.
The Percussive Arts Society moved its administrative offices to Indianapolis, Indiana in April 2007. The move allowed the Percussive Arts Society to have its administrative offices, annual convention and museum in the same city. At PASIC (November 2009,) The Percussive Arts Museum reopened under the new name of Rhythm! Discovery Center.
