Discussion
I find my self strangely tempted by a Yamaha Tenori-On - anybody had a go on one? Never really got on with computer-based sequencers but this seems more like an instrument you can actually play, which appeals to me (I am a lapsed clarinetist).
£599 seems quite reasonable if it does what it says on the tin but I can't help thinking that there might be a cheaper mk.2 version around the corner....
£599 seems quite reasonable if it does what it says on the tin but I can't help thinking that there might be a cheaper mk.2 version around the corner....
It does look cool, and i'd not say no to one, if it were not for the fact it's £600! For a glorified step sequencer.. Thats a big wedge for a 1 trick pony machine. And being an odd ball sequencer with limited uses, and thus limited attraction, I can't see Yamaha updating it.
There is software which does much the same thing (even an almost identical app for iPhones) There are other analogue style step sequencers which have been able to do vaguely similar things for years. I have had a Doepfer MAQ 16/3 for years, and thats pretty cool and fun (and cheaper) http://www.doepfer.de/maq.htm
If odd-ball stuff is your thing though, then you might also like the Monome http://monome.org/ Check out the videos on the website. I think it's as cool, if not cooler than the Tenori-on. And more flexible with it. But it appears they are hard to get hold of right now. Still, worth a look
P,
There is software which does much the same thing (even an almost identical app for iPhones) There are other analogue style step sequencers which have been able to do vaguely similar things for years. I have had a Doepfer MAQ 16/3 for years, and thats pretty cool and fun (and cheaper) http://www.doepfer.de/maq.htm
If odd-ball stuff is your thing though, then you might also like the Monome http://monome.org/ Check out the videos on the website. I think it's as cool, if not cooler than the Tenori-on. And more flexible with it. But it appears they are hard to get hold of right now. Still, worth a look
P,
I found this video a few days ago and can't seem to get the track out of my head. http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=-CWBgm_-Ggs
Looks like a nice bit of kit.
Looks like a nice bit of kit.
Ahh yes, I forgot about this new Boots girls thats doing the rounds advertising these things at the moment! 
She does a good job with it though, granted.
While im here.. This is one of the software alternatives I found. No doubt theres more www.weepr.com
P,
She does a good job with it though, granted.While im here.. This is one of the software alternatives I found. No doubt theres more www.weepr.com
P,
Thanks for the input.
I think one of the things that attracts me to the Tenori-On is that it is a completely self-contained instrument. I don't really want something like the Monome that is really more of a controller for a Midi setup although I acknowledge that it is more flexible and better value.
I think I will keep an eye on prices and see what happens. The early adopters might be getting bored soon and unloading them on Ebay.
I think one of the things that attracts me to the Tenori-On is that it is a completely self-contained instrument. I don't really want something like the Monome that is really more of a controller for a Midi setup although I acknowledge that it is more flexible and better value.
I think I will keep an eye on prices and see what happens. The early adopters might be getting bored soon and unloading them on Ebay.
I know what you mean, I figured if they were not so pricey then i'd get one too. But instead of dropping in price, they went up by £100 instead 
And yes, you are right, these things are self contained in that they have their own sounds onboard too. So thats certainly a plus. Although reviews suggest that the sounds are a bit so-so.. It's definitely still a cool and odd-ball musical gadget though
P,
And yes, you are right, these things are self contained in that they have their own sounds onboard too. So thats certainly a plus. Although reviews suggest that the sounds are a bit so-so.. It's definitely still a cool and odd-ball musical gadget though
P,
PJR said:
I know what you mean, I figured if they were not so pricey then i'd get one too. But instead of dropping in price, they went up by £100 instead
And yes, you are right, these things are self contained in that they have their own sounds onboard too. So thats certainly a plus. Although reviews suggest that the sounds are a bit so-so.. It's definitely still a cool and odd-ball musical gadget though
P,
Yeah, saw the price had gone in entirely the wrong direction when I checked the Yamaha site earlier! Hey ho. I think you can just load up new midi sounds via sd card btw.And yes, you are right, these things are self contained in that they have their own sounds onboard too. So thats certainly a plus. Although reviews suggest that the sounds are a bit so-so.. It's definitely still a cool and odd-ball musical gadget though
P,
Well, while you're thinking about it, why not pick up a Korg Kaoscillator?
http://www.korgkaossilator.com/
http://www.korgkaossilator.com/
I got one when they were first out.
It is great fun, much better than a virtual instrument because of all those buttons to press and trigger.
The on-board sounds are a bit ambient and soundtrack like, but the drum sounds are good, and it is good to use as a multi-layer drum pattern sequencer.
You can indeed load sounds in via a SD card, I use a 2Gb one with loads of my favourite Cologne sound based samples, and TR808 and TR909 drumsets for my techno creations.
It can also be used as an input controller for other hardware synths, altogether it has been a bit of a hassle getting it working with Reason, good with Cubase SX though.
Koenig
It is great fun, much better than a virtual instrument because of all those buttons to press and trigger.
The on-board sounds are a bit ambient and soundtrack like, but the drum sounds are good, and it is good to use as a multi-layer drum pattern sequencer.
You can indeed load sounds in via a SD card, I use a 2Gb one with loads of my favourite Cologne sound based samples, and TR808 and TR909 drumsets for my techno creations.
It can also be used as an input controller for other hardware synths, altogether it has been a bit of a hassle getting it working with Reason, good with Cubase SX though.
Koenig
This thread popped up again at an odd time!! I just bit the bullet and got a Tenori-on ordered yesterday.
Yes, even more expensive than they used to be
But you only live once, and you can't take your money with you when you die, so fukc it 
Best price that im aware would be to source in USA and use some cunning ingenuity to get it back here (to escape import duty). In which case it would set you back £610. Average retail price here currently is £760! Some places charge nearly £900! www.gak.co.uk have them for £675 currently though. So thats what I went for.
Again, it's very expensive! But very unique too. And I can't resist a pretty flashing light or 3. And this thing has 256 of em
Btw, if you really can't stomach the price (and I wouldn't blame you!), have a go with this. it costs nowt! And runs in your web browser.
http://inudge.net/index.en.html
You can even create direct URL's of your sonic doodles from it, and send to other people so they can instantly see/hear what you made. So here's one I just spent all of 2 minutes making, to give you an idea..
http://inudge.net/inudge#/a09
While im here.. Tenori-on's do pop up second hand quite regularly. Check eBay, gumtree and music tech sites etc..
P,
Yes, even more expensive than they used to be
But you only live once, and you can't take your money with you when you die, so fukc it Best price that im aware would be to source in USA and use some cunning ingenuity to get it back here (to escape import duty). In which case it would set you back £610. Average retail price here currently is £760! Some places charge nearly £900! www.gak.co.uk have them for £675 currently though. So thats what I went for.
Again, it's very expensive! But very unique too. And I can't resist a pretty flashing light or 3. And this thing has 256 of em
Btw, if you really can't stomach the price (and I wouldn't blame you!), have a go with this. it costs nowt! And runs in your web browser.
http://inudge.net/index.en.html
You can even create direct URL's of your sonic doodles from it, and send to other people so they can instantly see/hear what you made. So here's one I just spent all of 2 minutes making, to give you an idea..
http://inudge.net/inudge#/a09
While im here.. Tenori-on's do pop up second hand quite regularly. Check eBay, gumtree and music tech sites etc..
P,
Can get it duty free in Japan (for non residents) which from memory is something like a 15% discount, but thanks for the pointer towards GAK - Patience has never been a particular virtue of mine, and that is a very good price! Hope you enjoy yours. Tried the on-line version the other week, and just made me want the real thing even more!
Im not sure its a very good price. It's just a bit less expensive
And yes, The online inudge thing reminded me about the Tenori-on also, and had me interested all over again. Although inudge is of course very stripped down. It's basically a simplified version of the Tenori-ons score mode. The real deal has another 5 or 6 modes on top of that.
Theres some cracking Youtube vids of this thing strutting its stuff if you have a bit of a rummage.
I've already been editing up some samples for it, in preparation for it's arrival
P,
And yes, The online inudge thing reminded me about the Tenori-on also, and had me interested all over again. Although inudge is of course very stripped down. It's basically a simplified version of the Tenori-ons score mode. The real deal has another 5 or 6 modes on top of that.
Theres some cracking Youtube vids of this thing strutting its stuff if you have a bit of a rummage.
I've already been editing up some samples for it, in preparation for it's arrival
P,
Theres a new, cheaper version of this thing out next month. Check it out..
http://www.global.yamaha.com/tenori-on/index.html
It's a bit hard to say how much cheaper it is though, as prices still vary so wildly here!
Im still waiting to get the one I ordered a couple of weeks ago
http://www.global.yamaha.com/tenori-on/index.html
It's a bit hard to say how much cheaper it is though, as prices still vary so wildly here!
Im still waiting to get the one I ordered a couple of weeks ago
I was wondering if yours had turned up PJR - have GAK said what the delay is out of interest? I'm not entirely sure I see where Yamaha are going with the TNR-O, ok it's cheaper (marginally by the look of it), but for a fair percentage of prospective owners the led's on both sides I would imagine is a fairly strong selling point (when musically you could argue that you can achieve same / better for less money), and as for mains operated without the battery option, that alone would stop me buying the orange.
^ Gak sold their last one about 5 minutes before I ordered mine Then said it would be a couple of weeks for more stock.. 2 weeks later and it looks like it will be another week.
I just hope they can still flog it to me for the advertised price, because no other dealer could get close to matching it, saying Yamaha had raised the wholesale price a lot recently.
The new orange one looks ok, but yes, no battery option is rubbish. Plus the white plastic looks kinda cheap. Yet it's still going to be well north of £600 when it goes on sale. So im still very much after the original..
There is also a soft/firmware update coming out for the original soon. I think it's just bug fixes for the most part though, as there was a lot of grumbles about midi sync.
Oh well, back to inudge for now
Then said it would be a couple of weeks for more stock.. 2 weeks later and it looks like it will be another week. I just hope they can still flog it to me for the advertised price, because no other dealer could get close to matching it, saying Yamaha had raised the wholesale price a lot recently.
The new orange one looks ok, but yes, no battery option is rubbish. Plus the white plastic looks kinda cheap. Yet it's still going to be well north of £600 when it goes on sale. So im still very much after the original..
There is also a soft/firmware update coming out for the original soon. I think it's just bug fixes for the most part though, as there was a lot of grumbles about midi sync.
Oh well, back to inudge for now
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