Behind the Scenes

As the triumphant march of records continued, so too did the development of devices for playing them. Electric record players replaced gramophones and from the 1950s were affordable for use at home. In addition to devices for domestic use, players with two turntables were developed, mainly for DJs.
With the arrival of the cassette tape and the compact disc (CD), there was competition for the disc and they began to appear along with record players. Today, however, discs and record players are becoming more and more popular, whether they are vintage or high-end devices.

Udo Lindenberg was born in Gronau in Westphalia in 1946. Even as a teenager, he started to play the drums and he was soon ready to leave home. He settled in Hamburg and brought out his first album in 1970—with English lyrics. Two years later, Thumb in the Wind (Daumen im Wind) came out, his first album as a solo artist that had entirely German lyrics. His first album to reach number one was Strong as Two (Stark wie Zwei), in 2008. Three years later he had another successful album with MTV Unplugged live at the Hotel Atlantic, on which he collaborated with performers including Jan Delay, Inga Humpe, and Clueso.

Heinz Rudolf Kunze played this Gretsch White Falcon guitar in 1985 on his tour, My Heart is All Yours (Dein ist mein ganzes Herz). The White Falcon is an electric hollow body guitar with a history that dates back to the 1950s. The Falcon is still made to this day, in a vintage design with versions in different colors.

Shellac discs were used to record sound from the end of the 19th century until, from the late 1940s, they were gradually replaced by vinyl discs. The horn on this table-top gramophone for shellac discs is hidden inside the case.

The 250th anniversary of the birth of Ludwig van Beethoven in 2020 saw a special anniversary program of events with numerous concerts, exhibitions, and academic events. Beethoven was a star even in his lifetime, and his compositions are heard everywhere to this day. However, his influence is not confined to classical music because interpretations and samples of his work can also be found in rock and pop music. Beethoven is also present in everyday objects and merchandise. Ludwig the pop star is still alive!

The bandoneon is a hand-held bellows-driven instrument that was used mainly in dance music. The instrument was famous especially for its use in tango music, where its sound was a defining characteristic of the style. Unlike the accordion, the bandoneon has no preset chords but plays individual notes. Traditionally, the instrument is played sitting down, with the player holding it on their lap.

The sound of the sitar is particularly characteristic of classical Indian music. Its singing tone is created by up to 20 strings stretched over a gourd body. A second resonator near the head of the instrument intensifies its lower notes.
The sitar is traditionally played while sitting on the ground.
The German musician and writer Pit Budde bought this sitar in 1969 and taught himself to play it. This made him one of the very few German artists to use this instrument in the 1970s.

The pop singer Jürgen Drews wore this regal outfit in 2009 for a guest performance at the Town Hall in Gronau.
The self-appointed King of Majorca is famous for his extravagant shows. His musical breakthrough came in 1976 with his hit song A Bed in a Cornfield (Ein Bett im Kornfeld). Hits such as Everything Under Control Again (Wieder alles im Griff) and I'll Build You a Castle (Ich bau dir ein Schloss) followed. Alongside his musical career, Jürgen Drews has also appeared in various TV shows.

Peter Kraus had his first film role at the age of just 14, in the film The Flying Classroom (Das Fliegende Klassenzimmer) in 1953. Just three years later, he won his first record contract and brought out his debut single. Numerous hits made him one of the most popular German-speaking singers of rock'n'roll and pop songs.
As well as this four-stringed acoustic guitar, Framus also made two other models for the singer, the Peter Kraus Solist and the Peter Kraus de Luxe Electra.

The Japanese zither (Taishōgoto) is a box zither with both melody and bordun (resonating) strings. The melody strings are pressed down with keys like on a piano, which does not affect the sound of the bordun strings. The strings are struck with the help of a plectrum.
This zither belonged to the German avant-garde band Can, whose sound studio—which has been on display at the rock'n'popmuseum in Gronau since 2007—was known as the Can Studio and was used as a recording studio by well-known artists from the 1970s onwards.

The Minimoog from Moog Music is an analog synthesizer that was produced from 1970 to 1981. It was the first compact synthesizer with a keyboard and its sound set the benchmark for synthesizers to this day. Despite numerous successors and new versions, the sound of the Minimoog is regarded as unique, which is why it is still in use today and is a popular collectors' item.

The Wurlitzer Sideman was one of the first rhythm machines to be mass produced. It was made from 1959 to 1965 as an accessory for organs for the home and was used by the organist either via the small control panel or by using a remote player. The Sideman is an electro-mechanical machine that provides a range of preset rhythms, such as tango, bolero, or samba, that can be produced at variable speeds and with ten different drum sounds. The amplifier and speaker are housed inside the portable wooden case.

The Dane Jacob Jörgensen founded the Jörgensen music store in Düsseldorf in 1930. In the 1960s, it was one of the largest music stores in Europe.
The name Jörgensen Electronic was particularly associated in the 1950s with electronic organs such as the Tuttivox, the Combichord, and the Clavioline. Some of these types of organ were constructed so they could be taken apart and carried in portable wooden boxes. Jörgensen Electronic also produced transportable tube amplifiers for these electronic organs. This amplifier was made in the 1950s. Nothing more is known about the name Rudi Kawurek, which was added later.

Following its introduction in 1923, radio remained the main medium for listening to popular music until the late 1950s. In addition to fixed radio receivers, portable and pocket radios made it possible to listen to news and music almost anywhere, at any time. From the 1970s, cassette decks and, later, CD players began to appear, in addition to portable transistor radios.

The development of portable radio recorders with cassette decks made music available anytime, anywhere. Battery-powered devices with big speakers, such as the so-called ghetto-blasters, brought music on to the streets and defined youth culture, especially during the 1980s and 90s. At the same time, the recording function on many devices and the low-cost availability of cassettes triggered a wave of creative home recordings. However, the development of digital storage media and the introduction of the CD in the 1990s brought the cassette's triumphant advance to an end.

The Echorec 2, made by the Italian manufacturer Binson, is a special-effects machine that creates an echo and reverberation effect by making an analog recording of an instrument connected to it and then reproducing it with a time delay. The sound is recorded on a magnetized spinning metal disc. It was especially popular with musicians and producers in the 1960s and 70s. Bands and performers like Pink Floyd and Jimmy Page liked to use the Binson Echorec.