CD-ROM
Checking out archaic musical instruments locked inside a glass case - unable to touch or play them - can be frustrating, so composer Bruce Odland has freed 50 pieces from the catacombs of Chicago's Field Museum for the exhibit, and companion CD-ROM, Sounds from the Vaults.
His selections include a 1,000-year-old Nicaraguan clay flute and a Tibetan lapa (played by a monk wearing Reeboks, no less). Created by multimedia firm tomandandy, the disc contains 360-degree views of all the instruments. Hyperlinks take you to photos of native players, as well as to historical and geographical information, and you can "play" all the instruments, too.
Though most percussion is point-and-click, the flutes rely on sampled sequences. The instruments also move in sync with your clicked choices, letting you feel what it's like to actually play them.
Sounds from the Vaults CD-ROM: $24.95; exhibit runs through March 5, 2000. The Field Museum: (800) 343 5354, www.thefieldmuseum.org.
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