Clair Omar Musser Collection, ca. 1819-2014 Percussive Arts Society 110 West Washington Street, Suite A Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 Summary Title: Clair Omar Musser Collection Dates: ca. 1819-2014 Extent: 14 manuscript boxes, 2 oversize flat manuscript boxes, 5 oversize manuscript items in rolled storage, assorted artifacts Language: Most materials in this collection are in English. Repository: Percussive Arts Society, 110 West Washington Street, Suite A, Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 Administrative Information Accessions: 1999.07; 1999.08; 2006.03; 2006.11; 2007.06; 2019.02; 2019.05 Donors and dates of acquisition: Vera M. Daehlin (1999); Nancy and Perry Preusch (1999, 2006, 2007, 2019); Joel Leach (2006, 2019) Processed by: Alysha Zemanek, June 2020 Access and Restrictions: This collection is open to the public without restrictions with the exception of records containing attorney-client communications. Attorney-client records are closed until 2051. Restricted materials are marked on the folder and in the container listing. Rights statements: The reproduction and publication of copyrighted materials is regulated by the copyright laws of the United States (U.S. Code, Title 17). Preferred citation: Clair Omar Musser Collection, ca. 1819-2014. Percussive Arts Society Archive, Indianapolis, Indiana. Notes/other: Biographical Sketch: Clair Omar Musser was a marimba virtuoso who performed his own arrangements internationally. He made innovations in grip, mallets, and technique for marimba and vibraphone playing. Musser also invented and designed instruments. He held over 40 international patents for instrument design and invention. He also custom made instruments for famous performers. His marimba model designs include: the Century of Progress, King George, Queen Anne, Windsor, Imperial, Mercury, Century, Diana, Neo- Classic, and the Canterbury. He arranged music, was a renowned teacher and professor, and organized and directed a series of increasingly large marimba ensembles. Musser was born on October 14, 1901 in Manheim, Pennsylvania. He began studying music at 9 years old with the xylophone, piano, and violin. He later traveled to Baltimore and Washington, D.C. to study marimba with Philip Rosenweig. Musser began designing relatively young as well. Around 1925, he Percussive Arts Society: Clair Omar Musser Collection Finding Aid, rev. 2021. 1 designed the marimba-celeste, which was built at the J.C. Deagan factory in Chicago. From 1927 to 1930, Musser toured the U.S., Canada, and Europe where he performed the marimba-celesta individually and as a guest soloist with symphony orchestras. In February 1929, Musser organized and directed a 25-piece, all-female marimba ensemble for Paramount Pictures. This began a period of directing in his life. In 1930, he directed the “Tune Types Xylophone Orchestra” as well as a 15-piece marimba ensemble organized by J.C. Deagan. That same year, Musser joined the Deagan firm as manager of the mallet instrument division. However, he ended his relationship with the company after World War II. Talent at conducting led Musser to also guest conduct on U.S. radio broadcasts in the late 1930s. Musser also began to focus his time on large marimba orchestras beginning in the 1930s. In 1933, Musser organized a 100-piece marimba orchestra featured at the Chicago World’s Fair (also called the Century of Progress Exposition). Called the World’s Fair Marimba Band, Musser designed the marimbas used, selected and taught the members, arranged the music, and conducted. The marimbas, called the Century of Progress Model, were made by the J.C. Deagan Company. Next, Musser formed the International Marimba Symphony Orchestra, also consisting of 100 members. The orchestra went on a European tour which included traveling to London to perform for the 25th anniversary Gold Jubilee for the coronation of King George V. The J.C. Deagan Company made 102 King George model marimbas, designed by Musser specifically for the event. At the last minute the orchestra’s performances in London were cancelled. However, they completed the rest of their tour, including a performance as the opening music event of the 1935 Brussel’s World’s Fair and concluding at Carnegie Hall in New York. In the late 1930s, Musser began recruiting maribists for an orchestra which performed for 3 years at the Tri-State Music Festival in Enid, Oklahoma. In 1939, the group consisted of 25 members, growing to 55 in 1940, and 120 in 1941. Following the festival in 1940, the marimba orchestra toured the Oklahoma area. Musser next organized the largest marimba orchestra ever assembled at the time, called the Festival Marimba Symphony Orchestra. Consisting of 150 marimbists, the orchestra performed in the Chicagoland Music Festival on August 26, 1941. During the performance the field lights at Soldier’s Field were extinguished and 1,200 colored lights were lit at the base of the marimbas. The Festival Marimba Symphony Orchestra performed at the festival again the following year with 160 marimbists. Musser sought to best the previous year’s performance and created a program that included an 80-voice male choir, ten massive anvils to be rung with sledge hammers, and the use of meteorite fragments to create discharges of stardust which would flare to light up the symphony. Musser continued to organize even larger ensembles. He organized and conducted a 200-piece marimba orchestra to perform in Soldier’s Field at the Chicago Music Festival on August 14, 1948. His 300-piece marimba orchestra performed at the Music Pavilion for the Chicago Railroad Fair in August 1950. Percussive Arts Society: Clair Omar Musser Collection Finding Aid, rev. 2021. 2 In addition to organizing and directing ensembles and orchestras, Clair Omar Musser spent time publishing music, teaching, and designing more instruments. By 1941, Musser had published 53 works, including solos and arrangements for the marimba and vibraphone. From 1942 to 1952, he served as a faculty member and the head of marimba studies at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. In 1948, he organized his own company, Musser Marimbas, Inc. However, he sold the company due to financial difficulty in 1956. In 1966, the Ludwig Drum Company bought the Musser company. In 1952, Musser left Northwestern and moved to the West Coast. He was employed at the Howard Hughes Scientific Industries Corporation for approximately five years. During the 1950s, Musser also earned a doctorate degree in engineering from Oxford University. In the late 1950s, he focused on science rather than music and developed classroom teaching materials relating to space and space exploration. Musser’s interest in music and science combined in the 1970s when he created the celestaphone. The celestaphone resembles and sounds like a vibraphone. It was made with nickel-iron meteorites Musser collected from around the world. Musser accumulated an impressive list of inventions during his career, including a number of toy instruments designed to foster interest and music education in children such as the Astro-Harp, Aladdin’s Magical Organ and Music Book, Tone Educator Bells, Melodé Bells and Aqua Chimes. He also developed the Musser Copernican Planetarium, a star map overlay for teaching celestial navigation and astronomy. In 1975, Musser was elected to PAS’s Hall of Fame for outstanding achievements in mallet percussion. Clair Omar Musser died on November 7, 1998. Bibliography: Collection materials. Eyler, David P. “Clair Omar Musser and His Contributions to the Marimba.” Percussive Notes 28, no. 2 (Winter 1990): 62-63. Eyler, David P. “Largest Marimba Orchestra Ever Organized Under Clair Omar Musser.” Percussive Notes 29, no. 6 (August 1991): 39-42. Eyler, David Paul. “The History and Development of the Marimba Ensemble in the United States and Its Current Status in College and University Percussion Programs (Musser).” PhD diss., Louisiana State University, 1985. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/4091 Gerhardt, Edwin L. “Clair Omar Musser: A Brief Biography.” Percussive Notes 4, no. 2 (December 1965): 7. Holmgren, Marg. “Clair Omar Musser and the Marimba Symphony Orchestra.” Percussive Notes 16, no. 3 (Spring/Summer 1978): 20-21. Percussive Arts Society: Clair Omar Musser Collection Finding Aid, rev. 2021. 3 Percussive Arts Society. “Hall of Fame: Clair Omar Musser.” Accessed October 24, 2019. https://www.pas.org/about/hall-of-fame/clair-musser Scope and Content: The Musser Collection is divided into seven series. Each series, described below, is arranged alphabetically. Series 1 contains the Business and Personal Records of Clair Omar Musser. Items found in this series include correspondence, contracts, writings by Musser, and performance programs. Also included are materials related to Musser’s instrument inventions and designs, patents, brochures, catalogs, and promotional items, as well as Musser Marimbas, Inc. materials, pamphlets promoting Musser’s music, items regarding Musser’s Planetarium, marimba contest flyers and posters, items regarding Musser’s direction of large marimba ensembles, and materials about Musser’s family. Series 2 consists of sheet Music, a large portion of which was arranged by Musser for the marimba. Series 3 encompasses Musser’s Musical Toys Records, including correspondence, patents, manufacturing and planning materials, prototypes, and publicity materials. These records include information on the Aladdin Organ, Aqua Chimes, Astro-Harp, Electric Banjo, Electric Bell Organ, Electric Guitar, Magic Musical