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Experience Music Project
Hendrix: The Lyric Notebook
Project Group
Client
Date
March 2000Location
Experience Music Project, Seattle, WATags
Playlists
An interactive interpretation of Jimi Hendrix’s personal notebook, this enhanced artifact allows visitors to explore and transcribe his writings, while listening to the evolution of his creative process.
The handwritten lyrics for Jimi Hendrix’s Electric Ladyland are kept safely under glass in Seattle’s unique rock ’n’ roll museum, Experience Music Project. But visitors can still page though them for a glimpse into the legendary guitarist’s creative process. Layered within the kiosk’s virtual pages, hundreds of photographs and songs take audiences on a journey through music history, helping them understand Hendrix as musician, lyricist, wandering gypsy, and inheritor of a vibrant blues tradition. The kiosk’s design is shaped by the unique needs of a rock ’n’ roll museum: offer content rich enough for the most die-hard Hendrix fan, but give the Hendrix novice a quick-yet-satisfying peek into the musician’s creative process. The result is a two-tiered experience that is both shallow and deep. At the notebook level, users can page through drafts of Hendrix’s famous songs, drag a filter over the lyrics to translate the musician’s handwriting, and compare the written and recorded version of each song. Animated teasers break through each page to lure more curious fans beneath the notebook’s surface. This second level offers four unique, media-rich worlds that explore Hendrix’s musical origins, influences, and legacy. To tell the story, the kiosk incorporates photos, music, and animation—including a Fantasia-inspired “sound analyzer” that visually illustrates Hendrix’s guitar style within the blues tradition.
Press & Awards
“Profile: Experience Music Project Kiosks,” Design Interact, March 14, 2001I.D., Interactive Media Design Review, Silver, 2001HOW, Interactive Design Review, Outstanding Achievement, 2001“Behind the Design: EMP’s Behind the Musician,” HOW, December 2000“Invision Walkthrough: Experience Music Project,” New Media, Jeff Burger, July 20, 2000“Web Center Gallery: Second Story,” Adobe, Joe Shepter, July 2000“Motion Center Feature: Experience Music Project,” Adobe, Joe Shepter, July 2000“The Best Rock and Roll Clubhouse Money Can Buy,” Willamette Week, Zach Dundas, June 28, 2000“In Seattle, Smashing Opener for EMP,” MSNBC, June 23, 2000“Technology Brings Alive the History of Rock ’n’ Roll," The New York Times, Michel Marriott, June 22, 2000A book of lyrics handwritten by Mr. Hendrix can be found under glass in a traditional exhibit case, but in a special kiosk, the entire notebook has been digitized and made accessible by means of a touch sensitive liquid crystal display screen.
“Goodness Gracious Guitars!,” The Oregonian, Kristi Turnquist, June 22, 2000“Kiosks Offer Magic Carpet Ride Through Rock History,” The Seattle Times, John Zebrowski, June 20, 2000“Portland Studio with a Big Portfolio,” KXL Radio, Wired Northwest, Rich Carr, June 20, 2000“A Swoopy, Funky Fun House of Rock,” Smithsonian, Richard Covington, June 2000Credits
- Producer
- Julie Beeler
- Designers
- Brad Johnson, Sam Ward
- Developer
- Kim Markegard
- Project Manager
- Anmarie Trimble
© 2013 Second Story, Inc.Project Group
- Project Overview
- Hendrix: The Lyric Notebook
- Inventions & Inspirations: The History of Recorded Sound
- Lost Sounds: The Psychedelic ’60s
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