Yamaha Tenori-on: everything you wanted to know (with video)
By Trent Wolbe 
posted Jul 7th 2008 11:44AM
posted Jul 7th 2008 11:44AM
One of creator Toshio Iwai's primary objectives in creating the Tenori-on was to bring electronic music composition to the masses, and turning the unit on makes the process almost immediately recognizable: a vertical bar of LEDs loops from left to right across the 16 x 16 grid. Pressing any of the buttons on the 16 x 16 grid makes a sound when pressed momentarily. Press the button for a little while longer, and the light will stay lit up, sounding each time the bar passes over it.
This type of functionality will be familiar to anyone who's used a hardware or software sequencer, but the sheer number of buttons gives the Tenori-on another compositional dimension: low notes are on the bottom and high notes are on the top, giving the user an instant picture-score of what's going on at any time. Score one for those of us who never cared much for sheet music.
One problem with this scoring method is that 16 notes is not sufficient to capture a really broad pitch range, and it's probably for that reason that some notes (sharps and flats) have been omitted from the vertical scale -- tough if you're trying to make an exact replica of your favorite Model 500 song. The interface is much easier seen and heard than described, so check the video.
All of the navigation and programming is done via five shift-like keys on either side of the unit, which are easy to press with your thumbs while you're holding the satisfyingly thick frame (1.5-inch), and a jog wheel at the bottom. A recessed, 4-line backlit 2 x 0.5-inch LCD gives you all non-blinking information you need.
There are 256 voice sets to choose from, ranging from "Harp" to "SonarPad" to "Children," all of them delightfully playful but lacking in real diversity and depth -- it's almost too easy to make the same-sounding song over and over again as a result, but changing octaves and note lengths can add depth to songs.
Inevitable comparisons have rightfully been made to the similarly buttoned and blinking Monome project, but it's a bit moot. Monome is strictly a data control surface, while the Tenori-on is an all-in-one solution with its own onboard sound system. Many of the sound sets are taken from Yamaha's extensive collection of synthesizer brains, and other sounds were specially curated by Toshio Iwai -- those familiar with ElectroPlankton may recognize some sort of signature sound set forming.
The all-in-one nature of Tenori-on means people will find themselves using it in a lot of different places. It can run on six AA batteries, and lasts quite a long time; during the week we've had it, using it for a couple of hours a day with a more or less equal mix of the onboard speakers and headphones, the batteries have only run out once. But the excellent battery life does lead to some laptop-like flaws when it comes to portability. While the machine is great to use in a quiet, shaded room, you can forget about using it outdoors -- the white LEDs aren't strong enough to see outdoors. And the on-board speakers, while gorgeously integrated on both the front and the back of the frame, are achingly quiet. Even with the volume turned all the way up, it's difficult to hear the sound if there's any kind of noise in the background. Worse yet, the headphone amp is also very quiet -- on a subway train, even with over-the-ear sound-isolating headphones, most of the lows and highs get completely drowned out.
The Tenori-on also has a strange existence strictly as a design object. There's a whole "interior" mode" (as in interior decorating) that allows the unit to serve as a clock; it can also wake you up with your own song (but you have to keep the unit on and plugged in all night long if you want that to happen -- strange, considering there's no off mode, only standby). And the LED configuration is actually mirrored on the back of the unit, so that people can see what's going on who are standing on the other side of the "performer" (they're just lights, not functional buttons). There are also speakers on the back of the unit, which means people can hear it from if they're standing close enough.
There are visual aspects of the scoring process that can change the way the lights behave when they're triggered - they can explode or implode in a variety of shapes and sizes, and since all of the layers are displayed at once, you can set different sounds to react in different ways. A pop sound might actually pop apart, whereas a shimmery sound might make more of a star shape. The "random," "push," and "bounce" modes are usually more fun to look at than hear. In "random" you can draw any shape on the board and set it spinning with a twirl of a finger along the board. A traveling light will hit each moving light at random, which looks great but sounds kind of, um, random. "Push" mode creates a pulsating star around a light that makes the sound kind of fizzle into existence, while "bounce" jumps up and down on the board at varying rates, triggering sounds when it hits the bottom row of lights. All of the composition modes can be quantized so that notes only sound on the beat. It's nearly impossible to make the machine malfunction, but in certain extreme cases, you can actually cause a bit of slowdown. We had all the layers going full-steam, and pressed all the solo buttons at once and experienced a little bit of jumpiness in the playback (but that probably wouldn't be replicated in normal use).
The different composition and sound-sculpting modes and user voices, combined with ability to stack variants on top of each other, make the Tenori-on very versatile. Once we spent some time with it and pushed the limits of what it could do, it became clear that there are sonic possibilities here that aren't possible or practical with other interfaces. The portability and ease of use factors also mean that composers can be more spontaneous with their thoughts. At promotional concerts held in Brooklyn and San Francisco last month, Yamaha hired top-notch electronic composers to integrate the unit into live performances, and while it clearly fit better into some sets than others, there was wide breadth of styles and sounds shown off. Musicians can certainly get a lot out of the unit if they spend some time with it.
But the price might be only a temporary problem, as Yamaha is only making 100 of these little guys available every month for the entire United States for the time being, implying that if the small run goes well, production might ramp up and the price might drop significantly. We think there should also be an "LE" model available -- perhaps an 8x8 grid, with a plastic (instead of buffed magnesium) frame, no MIDI or SD card slot, and a sub-$100 price tag. Or even a 4x4 keychain version -- a partnership with TigerToys, maybe? Here's hoping -- this is too good of an idea for it to stay only in the hands of the privileged few.
Does anyone else think this a lot like the korg koass pad?
Its a copy of the monome 256, but this thing has sound synths built in. For the money I would much rather have the 256 because of its open programing. then you could use it for most anything and yamaha seems to have this thing all sorts of locked up. really kind of lame but would make you the hit at the part until someone comes in with a monome and a laptop and shows you what he can do... take a look at the press cafe app
No, why would you think that?
Well it's closer to implementation to Korg Kaossilator which is also loads of fun, a lot cheaper (under $200), but smaller and a lot less blinken.
I saw the video of Little Boots using this thing and have been in love ever since. I want one so badly!
If these weren't so expensive, they'd be very tempting. Nice review.
Video of it in action
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SGwDhKTrwU&fmt=18
The thing's completely different than a Kaoss Pad, both aesthetically and functionally. I own a KP2 and use it for all sorts of effects with my music. I totally want one of these, but $1,200 is entirely too steep. Most electronic musicians can get a computer program that surpasses the Tenori-On for just a few hundred dollars. While you don't get the cool effects, lights, and rickety-rackety, you do get something with which you can do more.
If the price ever drops to around the $500 range, I may pick one up. Until then, I'm just going to continue browsing eBay for a deal
Jonathan Coulton uses one of these when he performs "My Monkey" at his concerts. It really is a neat instrument.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diu875wE8Ls
I'll stick with my monome thank you very much.
I don't particularly like the round buttons.
it seems... complicated. i think you can do the same on a computer software without the plethora of buttons.
I just may whip out my Lights Out! Game instead...hah! take that!
The video was interesting, but painful to listen to.
- Your voice was about as loud as the music, so I had problems hearing you throughout.
- Having the organ sustain through half the video was a mistake. The constant sound drilled into my head and I now have a headache. The twinkling from the bounce layer was nearly as bad after a while.
- Having multiple layers going at once at nearly the same volume made it hard to tell what the changes you were making did. If you did anything similar again, I'd suggest making all the layers fairly quiet and raising the one you're demonstrating temporarily. You started doing this after a while, but doing it from the start would have been better.
I'm attempting to offer constructive criticism, not slam you. Other than the cacophony and the headache, it was a good overview of what the machine does.
Shame 'bout the price, I second your hope for a cheaper 8x8 version.
I saw this a few weeks ago, Visual music, what an amazing concept!
I had the chance to play with one at the SAT here in Montréal. They're amazingly easy and intuitive to use. The only thing you really have to know are the 8 mode buttons on the side of the device. They're weren't very well explained so you had to just go ahead and try. I had so much fun with the thing that I almost decided not to attend the conference, which was the reason I was at the SAT in the first place. It's really too bad that those things are so expensive cause I would buy one without hesitation.
very, very very very very very very annoying.
for $1200 dollars no way i'm buying these, ive got myself a kaoss and with a few other software i can do more than the tenori.
I bought one, and, I dont like it. I have a Korg Kaoss Pad KP3 and a Korg MX1, and they just dont blend. This sounds cheap and electronic, over complicated and not really as good as the concept
ten years from now, this will be a child's toy.
Yeah, $1200 is a bit much for what amounts to an HMI for some MIDI software, I remember one of my early Compaq pc's having free Yamaha midi software thrown in for free, and it wasn't that far from what you get with this bukkake machine.
Now, if you jammed this software onto a touchscreen equipped phone like an HTC Advantage, then put some nifty bluetooth features allowing multiple user interaction (proximity, feedback, dueling banjos with inbred hillbillies, what have you....), now you have got a virtual device that you can sell to millions of people, instead of nerdy electronic dj's.
You listening Yamaha? Probably not....
It is like being trapped in my own personal music hell where the mario brothers are inserting tiny slivers of glass into my soul...I have never wanted to stab anyone using a new gadget as much as this one makes me want to.
Deadmau5 has been using one of these in his sets recently I'm sure. He's a wicked Electro House artist from Toronto, Canada that is blowing up the world. Check him out. http://www.myspace.com/deadmau5
you sure he's not using monome? i seen him use that quite a bit
My fave tenori-on video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8xqmKN78AA&feature=related
Thus, once again proves that you can buy an instrument that costs over a grand, and most of the time the best thing you can do is something really dumb so that everyone will remember.
Thanks Yamaha. As far as your instruments go, I'll stick to my DJX keyboard and Stage Custom drum set.
I'll pull out Electroplankton for my DS if I want to write crap in some weird GUI or whatever, it was $1170 cheaper.
I'm just glad they're not trying to make a bunch of these and sell them in music stores. I'd have to run around slapping them out of peoples hands everytime I walk in Sam Ash.
Oh and btw, "At the end of the day, Toshio's objective of bringing electronic music composition to the masses does kind of fail".
Stop trying. I've heard enough really bad electronic music over the years because every idiot with a copy of Fruity Loops or Acid or Garage Band thinks they can make music. Well, maybe that's just because I'm in America and probably see more of it than him.
UI is pretty good, even if the music is wack and totally annoying. I'm glad I didn't have to write the blinky code for this thing though.
Oh and the detailed close-up pictures were great, do more close-ups like that!!
i think it's a great concept and i already have some ideas for it.
Don't buy this thing fellas.
Since I did I've hardly ever left my house, I stopped shaving, I rarely eat and sleep and then only at wierd hours, and if exausted i finally close my eyes I see blinking lights moving all around me in funny geometric patterns.
In my opinion It should be used only under strict medical supervision.
It's a nice toy but yet another piece of hardware laying around. The learning curves for each piece of music hardware are ridiculous especially with the tiny LCD's and layers and layers of sub menus . Also, how much would it cost to fix if one of those little buttons gives out.You'd prob be much happier with FLStudio or Garage Band and similar software sequencers.
The interaction concept is good, but the tech is SO 1990s... This is just screaming for a haptic multi-touch interface and not (far too few) pushable LEDs!