What Happened to the First Electric Piano?
- National Music Museum
- 2 hours ago
- 1 min read
People find the National Music Museum in a variety of ways. Recently, electric keyboard historian and technician, Emma, from emmaspianorepairs.com and @Emmarepairs on YouTube and Instagram, found a rare Vivi-Tone Clavier early electric piano on the NMM’s online catalog. Scheduling a visit from Chicago to Vermillion, she met Curator Arian Sheets and Conservator Darryl Martin to study this rare instrument and get it playing again.
Check out Emma’s video at the first link below. The first six minutes is a concise history of early electric keyboards and how she was introduced to the NMM. Then enjoy her excursion to get the instrument playing.
If you want to go even deeper into the history of the Vivi-Tone Company, check out the second link below which is a 2016 presentation by Curator Arian Sheets at a Witchita, KS conference.
The NMM is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. For more information, please visit www.nmmusd.org.
