YAMAHA, the producer of traditional musical instruments that has also long since been leading in the fields of electronic and silent musical instruments, has once again announced another innovative product: the < TENORI-ON >. It was introduced in the UK in 2007 and has already gained a reputation as the electronic music instrument of the 21st century. The product was developed in collaboration with the media artist Toshio Iwai. Iwai, who is the youngest winner of the Grand Prix of the Contemporary Japanese Art Exhibition, works in the domains of video games, advertising design and publishing. The < TENORI-ON > can be played by pressing or sliding one's fingers over the illuminated switches, which are placed in a 16 by 16 matrix on the panel. The light pattern does not refer to the usual musical scale, and the interface is clearly different from usual musical instruments that relate to musical scores. It is more like an improvisation, whistling or humming, working with random notes. When it starts playing, the panel illuminates and creates various shapes of light, which dynamically move and change. This active interface thus inspires the next improvisation and lends the < TENORI-ON > something magical. A performance with a musical instrument you have never seen before begins. A cultural paradigm can be changed incredibly easy with an ingenious idea, and the innovative quality of the < TENORI-ON > will definitely have an impact on every human-machine interface. |