The Science and Industry Museum in Manchester has opened a world-first immersive exhibition, Turn it Up: The Power of Music. Prepare to get hands on, exploring the science of music's mysterious hold over us and how it drives us to create, perform, feel and share.
Learn why certain music can make us feel different emotions and how it might influence what we buy, to how it can be used to boost health and wellbeing and improve sleep – Turn It Up: The power of music shows just how profoundly music can affect our lives with or without us knowing. Take a musical journey through a new composition by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra to connect emotionally with how music makes you feel –transporting you from feelings of joy, fear to sorrow. Discover the power of music in everyday life by sitting in a car to find out which music boosts driving safety, relaxing on a bed soothed by a composition just for night-time slumber, opening up sports lockers to find out which surprising tracks sports stars including Hannah Cockroft and Andy Murray listen to before they compete, spin the blocks in the supermarket to find out which songs would make your food taste sweeter or saltier, and pick up a phone to find out which ‘on hold’ music keeps you on the line for the longest.
Visitors can also put their knowledge and intuition to the test throughout the exhibition - guessing the meaning of songs from around the world even when the culture, language and instruments are unfamiliar; figuring out which songs have been created by a human or an AI; and testing your dance moves as the ‘Boogie to the Beat’ digital mirror motion tracks your Vogue, Renegade and Twist in the name of science.
Explore how technological advancements continue to push the limits of music and make playing music more accessible for everyone. Meet Haile the musical robot that can play and improvise alongside human musicians. See the groundbreaking MiMU Gloves, created by Imogen Heap and used by artists like Ariana Grande to use gestures to control electronic music-making software live on stage. Discover some weird and wonderful instruments like the Pyrophone, an organ powered by flames, and more.
Curator of Exhibitions at the Science and Industry Museum, Steven Leech, says: "We are incredibly excited to be able to bring to life for the first time the astounding and universal story of the mystery of music and the incredible ways that it impacts all aspects of our lives. Looking into questions like 'How has innovation expanded our music-making boundaries' ‘Why does music make me want to dance?’ ‘Can music make me better at sport?"
Guest Curator of Turn It Up: The power of music, Dr Emily Scott-Dearing added: "Through this lively, hands-on, ears-open, immersive experience, we hope visitors will have heaps of fun, discover their inner music-maker, feel moved and come away thinking about their own relationship with music in a way they never have before."
Turn It Up: The power of music is a riotous, hands-on experience that will encourage us all to feel, to remember and to reflect on what music means to us and the lives of others.
DON’T MISS OUT: book your tickets HERE