By Sue Baker
Les Paul looks at his string tester when his Discovery World museum exhibit opened on his 93rd birthday in 2008.
Discovery World is a science museum in Milwaukee.
Discovery World sits on the shores of Lake Michigan in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The science museum features The Les Paul House of Sound, one of the most extensive exhibits on Les Paul.
The exhibit opened in 2008 with Les Paul giving a concert in Milwaukee to celebrate his 93rd birthday.
Multiple key guitars from Les Paul’s collection are in The Les Paul House of Sound. Hands-on activities guide visitors to explore the science of sound. Thousands of individuals and groups from around the world visit the exhibit annually.
The wall that was changed to include Hearing Health Foundation was part of the Les Paul Big Sound Experience, which was an exhibit celebrating what would have been Les Paul’s 100th birthday in 2015.
The double expanded semi-trailer crisscrossed the U.S., stopping at festivals, schools, and museums. After the year’s journeys, all the elements from the trailer were installed in Discovery World.
Les Paul died August 12, 2009, and his legacy continues to live on in the worlds of music, science, and technology.
The Les Paul Foundation’s commitment to supporting scientific investigations in the area of tinnitus, through Hearing Health Foundation’s Emerging Research Grants program, is shown by the inclusion of HHF president & CEO Timothy Higdon on the top left of this display.
Les Paul Foundation trustee Jeff Salmon (center front, in orange) is part of a group visiting the Les Paul Big Sound Experience.
One of the elements now at Discovery World is an opportunity for visitors to learn how Les Paul created sound-on-sound.
Discovery World education staff members regularly guide school groups through the exhibit.
Visitors can mix their own recording and email the results to themselves.
Sue Baker is the program director for the Les Paul Foundation. They celebrated Les Paul’s 110th birthday in June with this quiz and video about his life and legacy, among other activities.
HHF is very grateful to the Les Paul Foundation for their longtime support of tinnitus research through our Emerging Research Grants program.
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