music house museum

The Music House Museum is incredible! The staff is knowledgeable and friendly, and give an excellent, informative, and entertaining tour. We were impressed with the collection - WORKING collection, of musical instruments. I have recommended the museum to many others. An excellent place to spend time with family, as younger children seem to be fascinated as well. Highly recommended.

We had barely half an hour before closing, but they let us in, gave us some highlights, and made us want to return another time. An unexpected jewel.

This is a wonderful collection of musical instruments. Be sure to take the tour as the guides are very knowledgeable. They turn a two to three hour tour into an unforgettable journey through time. Only they are able to open and operate the various instruments.This visit was far above our expectations. Thank you, Tom, for the tour.

Unique museum with many interesting and hard to find instruments. They play many of them for you including a rare repeater piano, player organs, band organs... If you want something different, check this out.

A short drive North from Traverse City on hyway 31 is the Music HOuse. Someone miraculously collected musical items, and have put them on display with such wonderment, It is worth the stop, Have you ever seen a caliope? Guides or not, you can wander through, its old, its interesting, its one of a kind, and its open most every day, check it out, and while youre at it, drive north a bit more and stop at Guntsvillers taxidermy museum, wow. YOu'll be amazed, great rainy day stuff.

We had our beautiful two granddaughters (ages 6 & 8), with us recently for a trip into Traverse City. On our way home, we decided to stop at the Music House Museum in Acme, MI. We had never been there before, although we pass it often. We are so glad that we stopped, as we had a great time. We saw lots of different and rare musical instruments, some that were from the 1800s and others that came from everywhere in the world. We even had a demonstration of one of only four "Giraffe" pianos in the world. We also saw a Mortier Dance Hall Organ which is a steam powered calliope that took up a whole wall, from floor to ceiling. Another smaller replica of a "street organ", played by an "organ grinder" so called because it looked like one was grinding bread because of the crank that had to turned to produce the music was demonstrated for us. There was even a (stuffed) monkey to represent the real monkeys that used to be trained to work the crowds for donations. It was so cool. The kids were mesmerized by the nickelodeons, the predecessors to juke-boxes and the old phonographs and radios that were on display along with a nice walk through the unique gift shop. All in all it was a lot of fun, a lot of learning, and a good time with family. Put this one on your list for things to do with the kids when in the Grand Traverse area.

This attraction is a hidden gem located just north of Travers City. It's a turn of the century barn filled with musical instruments big and small. It was amazing to see the technical expertise and craftsmanship of the pioneers of recorded musical sounds. The very affordable entry fee includes a 1 1/2 hour guided tour, along with a self-guided tour area and a gift shop. Weather you are a music aficionado or a tinkerer, you will thoroughly enjoy the time you spend at the Music House Museum. Located 1.5 miles north of the M-72 and US-31 with plenty of parking. My family and I plan to return again very soon.

This is a must stop if you are out by it. The people there are very nice and friendly. The things they have to show are great fun. We got to see a really funny silent film and hear the music that went along with it. they have some really big organs that are a must see.

My husband and I just got back from driving the Lake Michigan Circle Tour. I had planned little stops here and there: museums, activities, towns, beaches, lighthouses, etc. I planned so far in advance I couldn't remember what some of the things I'd written down were. I remembered being very interested in the Music House Museum. My husband and I pulled up and right away we get out of the car and hear organ music. My husband looked at me like "what did you bring us to". We ended up having the best time! This was by far one of our most talked about stops on our whole trip. The museum is in a restored barn. It shows the history of automated music machines: automatons, player pianos, dance hall organs, you name it. They plan over 15 instruments for you. Admission is a low enough cost and goes toward a great cause. Our tour guide was very friendly, very informative and entertaining. They show a Laurel and Hardy clip accompanied by one of the organs. It was so much fun and since I've been home I've told everyone about it! It is a must see for those who like unique history and off-the-beaten-path stops.

Stop here if you’re interested in music boxes and organs. The tour lasts about an hour or so with the very knowledgeable guide giving the history of the restored pieces before playing a selection or two on each. The gift shop has good section of music related items.

The museum is housed in a former dairy barn/grainery. The original building was built in 1870. It became a museum in the 1980s sometime. Our guide, Becky Gagnon, told us all of the mechanical music machines on her tour was created between 1860 and 1940. A two-hour tour that included music. Lots of music. And complete explanations about the player piano, jukebox, nickelodeon, phonograph or organ she was demonstrating.The first piano Becky told us about was a Conover vertical grand piano. Think about taking hold of the back end of a grand piano and bending it upward just beyond the keyboard. There were only 50 made, and only four of those are left. There may be just one of the Paul Lochmann crank-up music box made in Germany in 1899. And that one is in this museum.The only totally automated piece is a caged bird that tweets and moves its head and tail. In stark comparison to the little bird, the museum has a huge 1913 Bruder Brothers brass organ with 197 pipes, snare and bass drums, along with cymbals and enough volume to blow out the barn roof. It had been in a New Jersey amusement park wiped out by Hurricane Sandy.The 1924 Cinderella Wurlitzer organ music accompanied a silent film clip starring Laurel and Hardy. A clip in which 3,000 pies met their demise.There is almost too much to take in at the Music House Museum. But try. It's really, really worth it.

Artifacts were varied, well preserved & functional. Lectures were well informed. Enjoyed viewing & hearing the instruments.

Just awesome, loads of musical instruments with particularly attention to automation. Great tour. Some highlights - hear Gershwin playing his own compositions, see one of a kind stuff, Play one of only four of the type of a piano left in the world. Hear massive cinema and dance hall orangs. I cannot recommend this museum too much.Wheelchair access only to first floor. Stairs but no lift to second floor.Has a great little shop with some unusual products at a fair price. Nice musical themed jewelry and clothes.

After checking out trip advisor we decided to check this place out. Don't pay any attention to the negative statements on T.A. I can only think that those individuals were traumatized by some musical mishap. It is so rare to see historical presentations where things are not just seen behind glass but in full operational condition. If I made more money I would personally donate to this museum to ensure continued expansion and operation. Way to go to the tour guides for making this a truly memorable experience.

This museum is more than just the little local museum it appeared to be from the road. There is a guided tour which you can join at the point you arrive and stay with until it gets back around to where you joined it. There are also exibits you can peruse at your leasure. The guided tour is impressive, with demonstrations of player pianos, automatic organs, pipe organs, and all sorts of automatic music playing contraptions from 1990 through the 1930's. There is even a five minute silent movie with full organ accompaniment. The hours of operation are 10 to 4, and you want to allow a minimum of two hours for this exibit. The time will fly. There is no elevator, so a small portion of the exibit is not accessable to those who cannot climb stairs. This was enjoyable for children as young as 6 or 7.