The SIM turns 100!

Topic

The Sound Lab at the Kulturforum is marking the SIM's centenary with the exhibition “GOOD VIBRATIONS. A History of Electronic Musical Instruments” and a full program of events.

A modern sound laboratory, an unusual exhibition venue, and a place of interest to music-lovers: The Staatliche Institut für Musikforschung (State Institute for Music Research), or SIM for short, is many things - and it is certainly worth a closer look. Founded in Bückeburg by the music-loving Prince Adolf II of Schaumburg-Lippe in 1917, it was moved to Berlin in 1935 and amalgamated with the collection of historical musical instruments of the then State Academy of Music. Now the largest extramural institute of music research in Germany, it has belonged to the SPK since 1962. In 2017, the SIM reaches the venerable age of one hundred. That's a very good reason for us to look at a revolution that has dramatically changed music in those hundred years: the invention of electronic instruments. In the “GOOD VIBRATIONS” exhibition, the SIM has brought together pioneering devices ranging from the Mixturtrautonium to the synthesizer, accompanied by recent creations such as the PushPull – and visitors can even have a go at playing them!