October 22, 2009
Freakstrumental
Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2009 After watching a YouTube video of Novmichi Tosa demonstrating his latest invention, we were sorely tempted to devote this entire column to it (and then maybe ditch our jobs, run away from home and join the circus). Tosa is the creative brains behind Maywa Denki, an art collective […]
By Metropolis
Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on October 2009
Courtesy of Maywa Denki
After watching a YouTube video of Novmichi Tosa demonstrating his latest invention, we were sorely tempted to devote this entire column to it (and then maybe ditch our jobs, run away from home and join the circus). Tosa is the creative brains behind Maywa Denki, an art collective that specializes in so-called “nonsense machines.” The Otamatone looks what you’d get if you crossbred a saxophone with a toilet brush, but it’s actually an oddball synthesizer. Control the pitch by wiggling your finger along the touch-sensitive slide controller, then push the sides of the head to make the cute tadpole face “sing.” The first reader to successfully play a Charlie Parker solo on it gets a special prize.
Otamatone, ¥2,940. Available from Amazon Japan
