by Adam Douglas | 4,7 / 5,0 | Approximate reading time: 5 Minutes
synthesizer museum teaser

Vintage Synthesizer Museum  ·  Source: Vintage Synthesizer Museum

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Find out where you can see – and even play! – the world’s rarest synths at these amazing synthesizer museums.

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YouTube demo videos can only take you so far. While an amazing service, no video is going to compare to seeing and playing classic and rare synthesizers for yourself. The problem is where to do it. Unless you’re fabulously wealthy with a fleet of rare synth gems hidden away in a home studio, you’re going to have a hard time getting your hands on instruments like the Roland Jupiter-8, Yamaha CS-80, or EMS VCS3. That’s where synthesizer museums come in.

Much like regular museums, synthesizer museums assemble rare and coveted synths, drum machines, and other gear under one roof, often with educational material to supplement the instruments themselves. While not every museum will let you get hands-on with the synthesizers, many do – or at least in some capacity. But seeing and not playing is better than never seeing at all, so even if your closest museum won’t let you play, don’t let that stop you from paying it a visit.

Here then are five synthesizer museums, all with some pretty rare instruments in their collections. Did someone say roadtrip?

Synthesizer Museums: Vintage Synthesizer Museum

Located in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, you probably won’t find the Vintage Synthesizer Museum unless you’re looking for it. It’s worth the effort, though, as the museum houses a mind-bogglingly impressive collection of instruments.

Vintage Synthesizer Museum
Vintage Synthesizer Museum · Source: Vintage Synthesizer Museum

You can see a list for yourself on the museum’s website, but some highlights include an EMS Synthi AKS, ARP 2600 with 3620 keyboard, Korg PS-3100, Steiner-Parker Synthacon, and DK Synergy. Modern instruments include Buchla Music Easel and Synthesizers.com 55U system. They also have effects, with lots of classic Korg, Roland, and Maestro gear.

Although the word ‘museum’ is in the name, the Vintage Synthesizer Museum is primarily a recording studio. Attendance is by hourly reservation only: $60/hour gives you access to the collection to play and explore, while $75/hour also includes recording capabilities. You can pay more to include a house engineer. Visit the website (below) for more information.

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Synthesizer Museums: Swiss Museum and Centre for Electronic Music Instruments (SMEM)

The Swiss Museum and Centre for Electronic Music Instruments – better known as the SMEM – began in 2016 with a private collection and now has grown to more than 5000 pieces, including synthesizers, drum machines, effects, and other studio gear

SMEM
Swiss Museum and Centre for Electronic Music Instruments · Source: SMEM

Located in Fribourg, Switzerland, the SMEM is jam-packed with gear and looks more like a warehouse than a traditional museum, with instruments towering from floor to ceiling on shelves. You can see the collection for yourself on the homepage. Taking a quick look around, I found a Jen SX1000, Kawai SX-240, and Sequential Circuits Prophet VS (keyboard and rack versions!). While most gear is unavailable to try, the SMEM has a rotating selection of instruments in its Playroom to play and record.

Visitors need to book a tour in advance. Public guided tours are offered on Saturday afternoons for CHF 10.00 per person (around $11 USD). Playroom access is CHF 50.00 and includes a tour.

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Synthesizer Museums: Synthesizer Museum Berlin

The newest museum on this list, Synthesizer Museum Berlin recently opened in the German capital but it’s already making a name for itself with a number of high-profile events featuring artists like Alan Oldham and Thorsten Quaeschning of Tangerine Dream.

Synthesizer Museum Berlin
Synthesizer Museum Berlin · Source: Synthesizer Museum Berlin

The exhibit features more than 50 pieces, and while there doesn’t appear to be a collection list on the homepage, an Instagram post from keyboardist Renee Brandt shows a Roland Jupiter-8, Moog Source, Sequential Circuits Pro-One, Yamaha CS-80, and a massive Roland System-700 modular system.

Entrance to the museum is available by appointment. It costs €12 for two hours. You can play and record the instruments.

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Synthesizer Museums: Moogseum

The Moogseum is the hallmark project of the Bob Moog Foundation. Located in downtown Asheville, North Carolina, it’s an immersive and interactive museum that uses the life and instruments of Bob Moog as a starting point to teach about synthesis and the science of sound.

Moogseum
Moogseum · Source: Moogseum

If you love Moog, you’ll get a kick out of the different exhibits they have on offer, including a hands-on opportunity to patch sounds on a modular synth, an interactive section on theremins, including some of Bob’s earliest hand-built models, and a recreation of Bob’s workbench and exhibit on modular synthesis including a legendary Moog modular that includes prototype modules from the late ’60s.

Admission to the Moogseum is $11.75 per person.

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Synthesizer Museums: Hamamatsu Museum of Musical Instruments

If you find yourself in Japan, a visit to Hamamatsu is definitely in order. I’ve talked about the city of Hamamatsu before, but it’s the home of both Roland and Yamaha and includes the Hamamatsu Museum of Musical Instruments.

Hamamatsu Museum Of Musical Instruments
Wall-mount Korg MS-20 and Korg-700 at the Hamamatsu Museum Of Musical Instruments. · Source: Adam Douglas

Not strictly a synthesizer museum, the Hamamatsu Museum of Musical Instruments covers all kinds of instruments from all over the world, from Indonesian gamelans to historical European pianos to, yes, synthesizers. Being Japan, it has a nice focus on Japanese instruments, including (for me anyway) the most impressive piece, Korg’s Prototype 1, the first synthesizer made in Japan. They also have an original miniKORG 700, the company’s first official synth.

Admission to the museum is ¥800, or about $5.30 USD.

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6 responses to “5 Incredible Synthesizer Museums: Where to See the Rarest Synths in the World”

    Simon Oxblod says:
    5

    What about this museum is not obsolete?

    Martin Pilchner says:
    4

    Where is the http://www.nmc.ca on the list?
    Studio Bell – National Music Center, Calgary, Alberta. Massive working collection including the famous TONTO synth..

    Michele Coratella says:
    0

    dont forget about this:
    https://www.museodelsynth.org/

    Bill says:
    0

    There is https://mim.org/ as well.

    Lindsay blue bourke says:
    0

    i found mini moog in concert with hamond b 2 a cosmic journey in my improvised performance during the solo act of the floyd show aus.,74

    Lindsay blue bourke says:
    1

    a musical treasure

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