Science

Questacon—The National Science and Technology Centre in Canberra has ‘orchestrated' a new touring exhibition: Strike a Chord—The Science of Music.

Music is a language common to every culture on Earth. Music soothes and excites our senses and helps us to celebrate cultural events and major milestones. Strike a Chord offers visitors rich opportunities to explore the physics, psychology, sociology and physiology of music.

Questacon's suite of more than 20 exhibits in Strike a Chord will have you conducting a virtual orchestra, recording and producing your own digital music, playing in an ‘air band' with your friends, designing a musical instrument or composing a minuet, just like Mozart.

The exhibition also contains Quirky Fact panels covering unusual topics in music and a Tot Spot area that allows budding musicians to have their own jam session. This exhibition will appeal to a broad range of ages, including teenagers and young adults and several exhibits are suitable for people with hearing or visual disabilities.

Strike a Chord's exhibits have been developed in consultation with acoustic researchers, psychologists and music historians to tell a symphonic story of music from its earliest development through to modern digital music files.