Royal Northern College of Music
THE RNCM IS WHERE MUSICAL DREAMS TAKE FLIGHT, BUT IT ISN’T ALL ABOUT THEORY AND PRACTICE... UNDER THE BUSY OXFORD ROAD PAVEMENT LIES A BASEMENT FULL OF WEIRD AND WONDERFUL HISTORIC INSTRUMENTS.
With a mission to shape top-tier musicians and fuel the cultural vibrancy of the North of England, RNCM is not just about learning—it’s about being part of a vibrant, ever-evolving musical community that’s ready to make an impact on the world stage!
Below the big, boxy, almost brutalist building, RNCM's subterranean museum is one of Manchester's hidden gems. Not one to blow their own trumpet (see what we did there?) they quietly hold some of the oldest and most interesting musical instrument collections in the North.
The Virtual Archive
The RNCM has a fascinating collection of over 300 historical musical instruments, from a selection of vintage Stradivarius violins, to some weird and wonderful percussive instruments dated from the 18th and 19th centuries. These items form an important part of our understanding of music and cultural history, but there are at present very limited opportunities for the public to engage with these items. This is mainly due to a lack of space to display hundreds of objects, but also because many of the objects are rare and too delicate to be handled regularly.
This is where the virtual archive platform comes in. Offering organisations like the RNCM the chance to not only display their full collection of historic and important objects in one place, it also gives people the opportunity to interact with these objects in a virtual space through the use of AR technology.
How does it work?
Users can access 3D objects remotely through the website, interact with the objects on site through our app, and then collect them to access again when they get back home.
<DEMO VIDEO EMBED HERE>
Scan the QR code below to install the app on your phone.
Objects
