River of Time Museum & Exploration Center
We Are Here: Famous in Fountain Hills
Tall Ship Productions built the interactive audio player for We Are Here — Famous in Fountain Hills, an exhibit designed and implemented by Museum Pros, LLC. The electronics live inside a record player prop, so visitors can press a button and hear a snippet from an artist tied to the town.
This project was created in collaboration with Museum Pros, LLC, who led exhibit design and implementation, while Tall Ship Productions developed the interactive technology to meet the museum's goals for engaging visitors.
In the Gallery
The Challenge
The exhibit needed a simple, unattended way for guests to sample the music of performers connected to Fountain Hills — Les Brown, Arthur Fiedler, Jeff Dayton, Henry Mancini, Count Basie, and the Gatlin Brothers — without turning the gallery into a full stereo, and in an object that looked at home among the concert story.
The Process
- Step 1Collaborated with Museum Pros, LLC on the six-button layout, the snippet playlist, and how the player prop would sit in the gallery.
- Step 2Built a custom audio playback system into the record player prop, wiring six labeled lid buttons so each one plays a short clip from that musician.
- Step 3Installed and commissioned the station on site in June 2025 so visitors can walk up, press a button, and hear a snippet without staff help.
The Result
Guests now step up to the orange record player in the Famous in Fountain Hills gallery, choose a musician, and hear a song snippet that connects that artist to Fountain Hills.