Ojai Valley Museum Music Festival Page

It consists of sixty sounders covering five octaves. Each sounder is driven by an electrical solenoid, which, when triggered, strikes a block of wood of a given length. The note given off is naturally amplified and directed by a tuned, resonant tube of anodized aluminum. Each pipe consists of an inner and outer sleeve, allowing the length to be adjusted as the inner sleeve slides in or out of the other. "The fit must be precise, in order to be airtight," Trimpin noted.

The tubes are suspended by wires in array from the ceiling. "Metal ballast inside keeps them level. "If they are not level, the solenoids will not drop back into place properly when not energized," Trimpin explained. "The horn ends are made of spun aluminum. For those, I found a craftsman who was used to making custom lampshades."

The Conloninpurple display will hang from the ceiling of the Ojai Valley Museum from May 13th to August 31st.

"It can be played by means of a keyboard, or driven by a computer through a midi interface," explained the inventor. "But some people were reluctant to touch something so complicated, so we devised simpler control knobs."

Trimpin described the notes as similar to a marimba. (You can hear for yourself by clicking on the icon at the bottom of the page.)

"It can make a brief attack, but cannot sustain a prolonged note," Trimpin told us.

Before the shipping crates were opened, Trimpin explained the layout to museum staff. Conloninpurple was originally designed for a room with ceilings about twenty feet higher than the Museum's main gallery. "Still, the three-dimensional aspect of the music is preserved," he remarked..

Left to right: Fred Kidder, Director Jane McClenahan, Trimpin, and Roger Conrad.

The instrument is one of the largest single exhibits to be displayed at the museum. It took two days to unpack, assemble, configure and tune. A third day was spent training the docents, who will show and explain the Conloninpurple.

Volunteer Roger Conrad and Trimpin discuss some minor dents incurred during shipment.

Albert Behar assisted in the setup and tuning. He is a 9th grade student at Ojai's Nordhoff High School. He studies composition with Greg Haggard, who is the music teacher at the Thacher school.

Albert wrote a five minute piece for the installation. If your computer is equipped for sound, then click on one of the icons below to hear it.

(These files may take a minute to download on a broadband connection.)

	Trimpin.mp3
	Conloninpurple.mp3

The Dole Company is the Title Sponsor
of this 2006 Feature Exhibit

A history of the Festival and its famous performers will also be on display in the Main Gallery.

Left: Igor Stravinsky

Right: Aaron Copeland

Visitors to the Museum will have a rare opportunity to purchase signed Ojai Music Festival posters from the American Decorative period of 1970-1990. They are litho or screen prints for the most part, on heavy art stock, original editions, 24" x 30" or larger. They have been preserved for the last fifteen years by Festival members, in air-conditioned archival storage.

The posters have been signed in the image and then individually numbered individually signed by the artists themselves. These include famed artists such as Diebenkorn, Motherwell, Hockney, Goodnough and Noland.

At left: Festival Director Jeffrey Haydon.

At right: Museum Director Jane McClenahan.

The Encounters exhibit is a co-operative effort of the Ojai Valley Museum and the Ojai Music Festival, which has been a traditional staple of Ojai culture for more than sixty years.

We invite visitors from far and near to learn more about us.

To learn more about the Festival, click: