Yamaha TENORI-ON - Digital Musical Instrument (Orange LED)

The TENORI-ON (Orange LED) from Yamaha is a digital musical instrument that was designed to bridge the gap between making music and drawing pictures. It encourages playful experimentation with its unique integration of light and sound. While it may look like a device used to operate a spaceship, the TENORI-ON is actually very easy to use, while at the same time offering great depth with its powerful sequencer and layering capabilities.

It's an instrument that wants to be touched, and pressing one of its 256 illuminated buttons results in a pleasing tone with a corresponding light reaction. The TENORI-ON has 259 sounds (14 of which are drum kits), and the ability to sample and save sounds to SD cards. The reactive light show creates a compelling "visible music" interface. The modes offer 6 different approaches to how the unusual interface of the TENORI-ON can be used to create and manipulate sound and light. Draw Mode allows you to build and layer sequences much in the same way a toddler creates finger paintings. Imagine you're standing in front of a large Vibraphone dropping balls of light on its keys, and the height at which you drop the balls determines how often the notes sound. This is kind of what it's like composing with the Bounce Mode feature of the TENORI-ON.

You can take matters a step further and superimpose several layers of modes on top of one another. Once 16 layers have been sandwiched together, they become a block. The TENORI-ON can save up to 16 blocks, and the musician can switch from block to block during a performance. A MIDI output allows you to sync two TENORI-ON's together, or to send the MIDI information you're creating to a computer or another instrument.