We went to a really cool launch party for a new Yamaha’s hot new Tenori-On musical instrument last night.

It’s pretty hard to describe what this strange box of lights and sounds can actually do, but we had a test drive and it’s certainly addictive.

The designer, Toshio Iwai, talked us through his lifetime obsession for making music from computers, all leading towards making the quirky but impressive £499 silver box that was causing quite a stir at the party, held in the vast basement of Soho’s Phonica Records.

It’s being showcased at other cool vinyl emporiums around the country, so get down there make some music. (Then maybe you can post a proper description of what it actually is/does on this blog, as I really don’t know where to start).

You can leave the funky lighting tricks to the Tenori-On, it’s really good at those too.

Meanwhile the DJs seemed to be making a pretty good job of incorporating it into their sets at the launch bash, prompting assorted usually jaded dance music hacks to agree we’re definitely going to be hearing more about this unusual product.
Check out a demo of Tenori-On on YouTube.