Electroplankton man's new idea

By Ellie Gibson Published 25 July, 2006

For a crazy musical instrument.

The creator of the DS music composer Electroplankton has come up with a new harebrained scheme that could be the best thing to happen to music since the stylophone.

Together with Yamaha, Toshio Iwai is developing the Tenori-On - which translates as "palmtop sound". It's a big square thingy, basically, containing a 16 by 16 grid of LED buttons. Each time you press a button, it'll light up and play a sound - and if you keep pressing it, the sound will repeat.

"I want to handle both light and sound simultaneously and pleasantly," Iwai states on the Tenori-On website. Don't we all.

"I have, in collaboration with Yamaha, been developing Tenori-On with particular attention being given to the beauty of the light and sounds, the ease of performance, and as a musical instrument for the future, the design and quality of the product as a whole."

Apparently Tenori-On is still in development, but it's in good enough shape for Iwai to use in his musical performances. You can read more on his blog - if your Japanese is good enough, that is.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

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