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ARFUL OF LIFE
Feb 06, 2010 (The Wichita Eagle - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
You might not call it music, this collection of New York street vendors hawking flowers, hot dogs, shoe shines and silk shirts.
But slip on the headphones, listen closely, and you might change your mind.
Pick 'em out, pick 'em out, pick 'em out today! Imported silk shirting today! Everybody pick 'em out today!...
Ten ceeeents, or two for 15! Ten ceeeents, or two for 15!
I'm gonna show you the finest, I'm gonna show you the best pen you've ever laid eyes on in a long, long while...
Shine yo' shoes, brush yo' coat, make you look like a New York spoat!
The symphony of life in one New York neighborhood, recorded by sound archivist Tony Schwartz in the 1940s and '50s, captures the message of Exploration Place's newest traveling exhibit:
Music is everywhere.
"The overall question is, 'What is music? What defines it?' " said Christina Bluml, communications manager for Exploration Place.
"This exhibit helps answer that question, but it really shows that the answer is going to be different for different people."
"Wild Music: The Sounds & Songs of Life," opens today at Wichita's science center and children's museum. It was developed in part by the Science Museum of Minnesota, which created the landmark "Race: Are We So Different?" exhibit that came to Wichita in 2007.
"Wild Music" celebrates the cadence and rhythms of three environments -- a forest, an ocean and a city. Visitors can try an artificial voice box, compare their voice to a bird's, pound a giant xylophone, listen to whale songs or record a video of how music has affected their lives.
During a sneak peak of the exhibit Friday, first-graders from Jefferson Elementary School stepped inside the "jamming room" to create and mix their own music using drums, shakers and sounds from nature.
"It's great, because it really ties music into the real world," said Kate Pokorski, a first-grade teacher. "They can hear the sounds of nature, of the city, of everything around them."
"It was very noisy, but it was very fun," added 7-year-old Fernanda Rojas.
One exhibit station, "Music and Memory," features a microphone and video camera and lets visitors record their feelings about a certain sound or piece of music.
One boy said Guns N' Roses' "Welcome to the Jungle" reminds him of going to see his favorite basketball team, the Boston Celtics.
Another young woman said "Tomorrow," from the musical "Annie," will always remind her of childhood. She used to play it on her Fisher-Price toy record player, she said, and would sing it whenever she was grounded or feeling sad.
Other portions of the exhibit let visitors test their prowess at distinguishing rhythms and melodies. Or they can sit for a few minutes in a darkened room to hear -- and even feel -- the sound of bullfrogs, Native American singers, foreign languages and a roaring crowd.
"We did a unit on musical instruments," said Jennifer Porter, a first-grade teacher from Jefferson. "But this (exhibit) really opened their eyes and their ears.... And they had so much fun."
Reach Suzanne Perez Tobias at 316-268-6567 or stobias@wichitaeagle.com.
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