Musical Museum, Brentford, Music museum in Brentford, United Kingdom.
The Musical Museum in Brentford houses self-playing instruments from different eras, including pianolas, orchestrions, and mechanical organs spread across three main galleries. Each device reveals how mechanical engineering created musical experiences without recorded sound or electricity.
The museum began in 1963 focused on roll-playing pianos before expanding its scope to include other mechanical instruments. A move to a newly constructed building beside Kew Bridge in 2008 allowed it to display its full collection properly.
The museum shows how people once enjoyed music through mechanical machines before recordings and radio became common. Visitors experience how intricate devices could play full arrangements stored on paper rolls.
Allow plenty of time to understand how each instrument works, since the mechanical systems are intricate and fascinating. Plan your visit around any demonstrations or performances, as these bring the collection to life in ways you cannot experience alone.
The museum preserves a restored Wurlitzer theatre organ that performs during special concerts and film screenings, producing a sound that most modern visitors have never encountered. This instrument demonstrates the engineering skill applied to music reproduction in the early twentieth century.
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