Seattle "Experience Music Project"
 

Haven't seen anything written about the <BR>newly opened "Experience Music Project" <BR>in Seattle. Am going to Seattle for <BR>3-day weekend and want some input. <BR>Thanks.

My fiancee and I went last year. We are big music fans, and he is a big hendrix fan, but we found the experience lacking. Probably because we are also computer people. All we could think about was how obsolete the techniques already were &lt;grimace&gt;. In my opinion, lots of hype, fairly ok, but if you have other stuff you want to do, don't stress over not making time for this. It cost a fortune, and entertained us for just about 90 minutes i think.

I just returned from a 5 day seattle visit over Labor Day weekend and the EMP museum was a first day day destination that was well worth the time. The admit price ($19 or $20 for adults if I recall correctly) allows you to come and go asd many times as you wish during a day. The monorail, which departs from Westlake Center at 4th and Pine in downtown Seattle, costs $1.25 each way and runs every 7 - 15 minutes depending on time of day. It will leave you adjacent to the EMP entrance, just outside the Seattle Center entrance. I was there on a Thursday - relatively uncrowded except for the interactive exhibits that allowed you to play various instruments and evene record and mix your own demos in mini recording studios. There didn't seem to be any system for determining who's next in this part of the museum - one just had to stand around and wait for others to finish. The interactive instruments were open and people could continue reactivating sessions if they desired but the recording spaces had a time limite per user (or group of users). If you're interested in this area I suggest getting there at opening time and heading for it first. the next busiest area is "Funkblast", an interactive ride experience with a motion simulator (a scaled down musical version of the Back to the Future ride from Universal studios - similar visceral experience but different theme). The current exhibit that runs until January has a detailed history of the development of music in the West Indies, particularly Jamaica. Pemanent exhibits that are wel worth extended time include the Hendrix Gallery and the Guitar gallery. All visitors get and electronic guide to carry that has headphonezs and a remote that allows one to access everything from detailed descriptions of phots and exhibit items to interviews and even musical clips allowing one the hear actual sounds as played on the amzaing assemmblage of guitars, rangin from the earliest 1500's and 1600's instrument through the early electric guitars and event he wild custom instruments of the last decade. The museum has a well designed traffci pattern and a helpful staff. The electronic guide is incredibly detailed and informative. Bring a camera - the exteriro of the building must be seen to be appreciated - it's wild, outlandish and looks almost like an organic structure - one half expects to see the building breathe! This musuem is everything that I hoped the R&R Hall of Fame would be (and was not). It's a must see for anyone visiting the area. If you're dedicated, stop for no breaks, are a solo traveler and have stamina, you could do justice to it in four hours but a more pleasant visit would be the busy exhibits early in the day and a later return to browse at leisure. Email me direct of more questions - just remove the "#$%" from above address.

I live here in Seattle and have a membership to the EMP. Personally, I don't think it's worth the time and the expense. If you are into music and have a lot of time to wait on line then it's great; if you don't then buy the book in the bookstore and do something else. Weekends are the busiest time and they don't allow you to "pre-purchase" tickets for a particular time. Each time I've taken people there (four times in the last year), we wait a lot. It's fun to a certain extent and the "decades room" (I'm not sure of its real name) is interesting, but I think for $20 per person it's a bit pricey. <BR> <BR>Again, if you're really a music person you'll enjoy this to a certain degree. BTW, it's over 18 months old now.

I should have mentioned that I am a "music person" in a major way and this certainly contributed to my enjoying it more than others appear to have. As for the technology being outdated... it seems almost inevitable that by the time a museum opens, the technology will be a bit outmoded. I admit that the electronic museum guide was a bit clumsy until I became accustomed to it but the wealth of inofrmation available was impressive.

I went to the EMP last December with two other adults and three teenagers. Overall, we all found it overpriced, and overhyped. Music fans will definitely find something cool within the exhibits (as I did), but lots of waiting and not enough music history made me wish I had used my $20 for something else.

You should at least look at the building - it's the ugliest thing in the continental US - and perhaps one of the ugliest buildings in the world!

I am a huge music fan and found the EMP to be a total snooze.

Dick, I live in Seattle and I agree with you, the building is a prentious eyesore. It looks like a giant bird dropping.