this is a currated collection of instruments that are new for some reason.
Otamatone is an instrument in the shape of a note. Play it by pressing the stem switch!
- COMMENT: "otamatone is one of the most iconic muscial instruments of the last decades. the interaction is very simple and lends itself to traditional instruments. the shape is very pop and comic, however the combination of electronic sound generation and analog filtering is quite smart yet simple. it is impressive to see how this funny contribution became a widespread mass product."
- LINK: https://otamatone.jp/en
- ADDED: 2023-05-05
"a wall of sound in your pocket. pocket operators are small, ultra portable music devices, with studio quality sound and the flexibility to make music on the go. affordable for everyone and compatible with all other music gear."
- COMMENT: "the Pocket Operator (PO) series is a series of pocket calculator style musical instruments. while the principal and the interaction design is not extremly novel ( basically a 16-step sequencer ) the individual and indosyncratic implementations are profoundly impressive ( the screen design alone is well worth noticing ). POs are quite easy not get started with but often offer quite some depth to explore. the units can also be synced with each other or with other systems via a repurposed audio signal ( e.g to an modular setup )."
- LINK: https://teenage.engineering/products/po
- ADDED: 2023-05-05
- COMMENT: "Electroplankton is a series of 10 small sound-based games that allow to produce sounds or musical compositions through idosyncratic interaction concepts. It was first released as commercial game for the Nintendo DS handheld console in 2005. What fascinated me about the game was the on the one hand very playful as well as beautiful game design and on the other hand the hint towards alternative ways of thinking about composing music and sounds; some games use physics-based models ( e.g fish bouncing of leaves ) while others use visual structures ( e.g grid of arrows directing sounds ). in a way i consider this game to be the pioneer of a whole field of audio-visual music videogames. PS the manual is very interesting, too."
- LINK: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroplankton
- ADDED: 2023-05-08