Last seen in public back in October 2003 as part of the stunning "Interstellar" exhibition in Paris (illustrated report here) was Pink Floyd's legendary, and pioneering, surround sound controller, The Azimuth Co-ordinator (click thumbnail, left). Developed in the late 1960s by an Abbey Road Studios boffin, it used four large rheostats to enable the panning of the band's live music around concert halls around the world.

There were actually two - the first was stolen, requiring the second, shown here, to be built ready for the band's appearance at London's Royal Festival Hall in 1969.

The Victoria and Albert (or V&A) Museum in London have resurrected their Theatre Collection in a new gallery, opening to the public on March 18th, and amongst the (admittedly few) rock music items is the self-same device. The V&A are hoping that having the Floyd equipment alongside other things such as the original Rolling Stones "tongue" artwork, will encourage people to come forward with other items. More details can be seen at the V&A website, and in an article in today's Independent.