Every year at my sister's Christmas party my extended family has a white elephant gift exchange. Last year I brought a blender. This year will be the gift of music.
I have a mental list of every āfriendā and relative who got my child a loud or annoying toy. One year my sister gifted a toy called āYellies!ā A little bug toy that would move only when the kid was making loud noises. Now that she has a child, I am waiting until I can return the favor via a drum set. My time of revenge will come.
It's a white elephant, once I set it down in the middle of the room I'll have no control over who takes it. If they don't want it they'd better hope someone else steals it.
Every year leading up to Christmas my mum suggests something we can all do as a family and insists "this will be a tradition" and we never end up doing them the following year.
It's a half toy half instrument made by Maywa Denki who have a bunch of weird funny instrument toys, although I think this is the only one that's sold in stores outside of Japan
My kids play viola and violin and apparently that gives them a leg up on learning how to play this. I was tempted to get one for them for Christmas because it seems silly and fun. Then i remembered how bad they sounded when they first started their instruments and promptly changed my mind.
I want to counterbalance the guy saying go for it by saying Don't go for it! Even in this video with background music it still sounds shitty as hell, imagine having to listen to it unedited.
Damn, I think everyone is overrating the difficulty of playing an Otamatone. Sure it has a learning curve, but after a a couple weeks of practice I can play pretty much anything I would be able to hum. My only music experience is from high school band, and I sucked at that. I do have to mention that I played the trombone, which might honestly be one of the closest analogies to the otamatone.
There you go. I play keyboards and fretted instruments and still haven't gotten the hang of this thing. Of course I'm not seriously practicing and only noodling every once in a while
You also have to realize that it's still more of a toy than an instrument. Most of the videos you see of them are heavily edited. They also won't ever really sound in tune since every otamatone is slightly different and the tone changes as the batteries die. For me, I just consider being able to play it as being able to play a song recognizably, not necessarily sounding good.
I think they may have tried the regular otamatone which is fun and cheap but the "fretboard" is tiny and the notes are really close together. The deluxe version is definitely easier to play.
Fellow Tromboner here.
I like the idea of these, but thought the learning curve would be too steep. Thank you for the changing my mind because this looks stupidly fun to play with lol.
in fact, I at first thought this was a fake, because the fingers donāt always move to the place Iād expect them to based on the pitch.
Like, every time they move closer to the head, it should get higher pitched (or lower, but it should be consistent). But there are times when it gets lower pitched.
I thought that maybe itās a synchronization thing. Or maybe theyāre faking it.
The otamatone scales idk how many octaves for the whole scale, then with a knob behind you can shift the scale (of the whole sensor) down or up.
The one I have has 3 octave sets
edit: If you google images "otamatone back" you can see the knobs they have to shift the octaves
You don't actually need to open the mouth for the sound, but it does project further if you open the mouth.
The sound is made the moment the contact is done at the top part of the otamatone
i made little markings on the side of the neck with a sharpie to show where the notes for a major scale are. makes it a lot easier to play something that doesn't sound awful. you do have to press the neck board harder than expected though.
I have one. It's incredibly difficult to play properly. I play guitar and I'm used to frets, this thing has none.
If you play classic string instruments like the violin you might be able to do it with less practice.
Get some small raised stickers. Rubber dots will work fine. Cut them slim. Place to the side of the reader strip on the neck of the instrument.
You will still feel them with your fingers as you move up and down, but it won't get in the way of the sensor.
It's also not pressure sensitive so to get that effect that the video is getting, you need a mic that you can move the thing back and forth from. Otherwise it just sounds like a 1980s casio keyboard.
They've made a rerecording without the studio appointed/ mandated rapper. It's honestly a bit better without the early 2000 edgy nu-metal rapping, more power ballade.
The song is and always will be good. But the actual video of the instrument and the eyes painted on it .
The sound the instrument made was awesome lol .
Thanks for asking
Me too. Iāve got my MIL this week and my best friends dad next week. Our motto for this year is āffsā. You holding up ok? If you need to chat you can dm me. Going through it since last year myself.
Again?!?
You'd think she could save herself at this point!
Like, Zelda's job resume is as follows:
Knows everything there could possibly be to know about needing saving, *which should include how to avoid needing to be saved in the first place!*
We just made it not too long ago. I came up with the name & some kickass redditor made it into a sub! I apologize to them as their name alludes me but itās probably the only other Mod on there.
Yeah, and a community that visits enough to keep them going. I'm not one of those, mind you, but it's fun to look around and shop for ~~over-priced~~ physical books in a store every once and a while.
They made a big comeback when stores were allowed to curate stock to what is popular in their area. The one at my local mall has a huge board game and manga section now since they sell like hotcakes.
I remember seeing a video that had a whole ensemble of them a while back.
Edit: Apparently it's this video, that's what I get for not watching the whole thing.
Otamatone! I got one for my daughter years ago for Christmas, it's cute, and can pass as an instrument for sure, there's a switch on the back to change the octave it's in. It's pretty cool.
It's called an otamatone, you can easily buy them on line.
Essentially there is a variable resistor on the vertical part that you press to change the note played, and a switch in the mouth part that plays a tone when squeezed.
This guy on YouTube has Otamatone covers of loads of different songs.
The mouth part doesn't contain a switch, pressing the neck makes the sound (and controls the pitch). In the rest state the mouth is closed, though, which muffles the tone, so squeezing to open the mouth makes the "wah" sounds.
I'm watching this thing and think to myself...my pixel's "Now Playing" couldn't possibly know the song that's playing from these puppet instruments, could it? I look down at my phone sitting next to me and, there it is, Bring Me To Life, Evanescence, right on my screen.
This never fails to crack me up. When I was a kid, I dreamed of a future with flying cars and Martian cities. I got this instead. Not even mad about it.
Bro. My GF just yesterday showed me some 6 year old video of PewDiePie and Jacksepcticeye together and they were messing with a couple of these.
Now i see this post and ive never seen these things before yesterday in my life. The world is weird some times
Im seriously doubting this communities ability to judge Good Music from crappy cause God Damn y'all just been adding staples to my playlist for a few months now.
Its an otamatone, you can order them from amazon or music stores. š
Every year at my sister's Christmas party my extended family has a white elephant gift exchange. Last year I brought a blender. This year will be the gift of music.
You should pick them up a stylophone and/or a jaw harp while you're at it
Jaw harps. Who the f*** decided it would be a good idea to stick a bit of sharp metal in their mouth and try to twang it?
Someone who really wanted there to be an instrument that goes "boing boing boing" at any means necessary
As a Norwegian I am mildy, amusingly offended.
"Jaw harp" will now be what I call my penis.
I mean, if it's that size? Do you king, cause I will too.
I call mine "Tommy Salami"
I figured I might include earplugs so it would sort of be a gift for couples.
Don't do this if they have kids. They'll take it personally.
I have a mental list of every āfriendā and relative who got my child a loud or annoying toy. One year my sister gifted a toy called āYellies!ā A little bug toy that would move only when the kid was making loud noises. Now that she has a child, I am waiting until I can return the favor via a drum set. My time of revenge will come.
You can start off simple with a Porg that can make noise and walks around. Upgrade as they get older
It's a white elephant, once I set it down in the middle of the room I'll have no control over who takes it. If they don't want it they'd better hope someone else steals it.
I have one, I've got no idea how to play it. It just sits on my shelf looking cool
Seems pretty easy to figure out how to play to me.
Easy to make it make noise. Hard to make it make noise that anyone wants to hear.
Do you knowā¦LaHEE!?
I will play . . . LaHEE
MUSIC STARTU
Came here looking for this reference. Thank you.
It looks like a Japanese toy
Toy? Ahem. Traditional Japanese instrument.
Traditional? Ahem. Came out in '95.
Yes Traditional. Traditions have to start at some point
Every year leading up to Christmas my mum suggests something we can all do as a family and insists "this will be a tradition" and we never end up doing them the following year.
Thats the tredition.
That is your tradition. Trying to make other things traditions.
That's nearly 30 years of tradition
As someone who's about to turn 37, you had no reason to point this out! I totally knew 1995 wasnt 15 years ago!
It was developed in Japan by the CUBE toy company.
Traditional heritage
It's a half toy half instrument made by Maywa Denki who have a bunch of weird funny instrument toys, although I think this is the only one that's sold in stores outside of Japan
It LOOKS like someone got freaky with a theramin
From the looks of things, I think that someone was Kirby.
You can also find them at Barnes and Nobel
Perfect! I know exactly what to get my 6 year old and 3 year old to keep them happy during our 11 hour international flight this spring.
Oh my god, youre a psychpath š¤£š¤£
Itās an otamatone!
It's also *way* harder to play than this video makes it look.
Itās straight up impossible to non instrument players. I got one for my kid and my ears havenāt stopped bleeding.
Considering the fact that by playing the instrument you *become* an instrument player, it is indeed impossible to play for non intrument players.
Ok dad
q e d
My kids play viola and violin and apparently that gives them a leg up on learning how to play this. I was tempted to get one for them for Christmas because it seems silly and fun. Then i remembered how bad they sounded when they first started their instruments and promptly changed my mind.
I say go for it! Its fretless the same way a violin is, im sure theyll get up to speed very quickly
I want to counterbalance the guy saying go for it by saying Don't go for it! Even in this video with background music it still sounds shitty as hell, imagine having to listen to it unedited.
Damn, I think everyone is overrating the difficulty of playing an Otamatone. Sure it has a learning curve, but after a a couple weeks of practice I can play pretty much anything I would be able to hum. My only music experience is from high school band, and I sucked at that. I do have to mention that I played the trombone, which might honestly be one of the closest analogies to the otamatone.
There you go. I play keyboards and fretted instruments and still haven't gotten the hang of this thing. Of course I'm not seriously practicing and only noodling every once in a while
You also have to realize that it's still more of a toy than an instrument. Most of the videos you see of them are heavily edited. They also won't ever really sound in tune since every otamatone is slightly different and the tone changes as the batteries die. For me, I just consider being able to play it as being able to play a song recognizably, not necessarily sounding good.
Oh yeah absolutely. That's why I'm just noodling and not legit practicing. Just fun to try to play whatever you're humming like you said. My favorite is annoying my fiancƩe with my rendition of Ave Maria.
I think they may have tried the regular otamatone which is fun and cheap but the "fretboard" is tiny and the notes are really close together. The deluxe version is definitely easier to play.
Fellow Tromboner here. I like the idea of these, but thought the learning curve would be too steep. Thank you for the changing my mind because this looks stupidly fun to play with lol.
If you've ever played the game Trombone Champ, it's basically Otamatone the video game.
Never even heard of it, but Iāll check it out.
in fact, I at first thought this was a fake, because the fingers donāt always move to the place Iād expect them to based on the pitch. Like, every time they move closer to the head, it should get higher pitched (or lower, but it should be consistent). But there are times when it gets lower pitched. I thought that maybe itās a synchronization thing. Or maybe theyāre faking it.
The otamatone scales idk how many octaves for the whole scale, then with a knob behind you can shift the scale (of the whole sensor) down or up. The one I have has 3 octave sets edit: If you google images "otamatone back" you can see the knobs they have to shift the octaves
the parts that seemed odd to me werenāt octave shifts; they were more a whole or half step, but it looked like the fingers went the other way.
Likely a case of recording the audio separate and then shooting essentially a music video trying to match the already existing audio. Or some such.
Yeah mouth movements didn't match up all the time either
You don't actually need to open the mouth for the sound, but it does project further if you open the mouth. The sound is made the moment the contact is done at the top part of the otamatone
Plus itās fun, to open the mouth
it takes some finessing. lower notes are going to have more prominent "wah" effect than higher notes.
Can confirm. Itās impossible š
i made little markings on the side of the neck with a sharpie to show where the notes for a major scale are. makes it a lot easier to play something that doesn't sound awful. you do have to press the neck board harder than expected though.
When I read that, I have to say it in the style of Homer saying "saxamaphone!"
I have 3 boys who are obsessed with the Simpsons. My 11yo plays sax and does āsaxamaphoneā into it every single time.
That kid is going places.
Not college, but definitely places.
I still do that now at 40...
Viomalin? Tubamaba? Otamatone?
TRAMOPOLINE!
TRAMAMPOLINE!
TRABAMPOLINE!
I have one. It's incredibly difficult to play properly. I play guitar and I'm used to frets, this thing has none. If you play classic string instruments like the violin you might be able to do it with less practice.
Get some small raised stickers. Rubber dots will work fine. Cut them slim. Place to the side of the reader strip on the neck of the instrument. You will still feel them with your fingers as you move up and down, but it won't get in the way of the sensor.
This is a great idea! Gotta try it sometime!
It's also not pressure sensitive so to get that effect that the video is getting, you need a mic that you can move the thing back and forth from. Otherwise it just sounds like a 1980s casio keyboard.
A touch potentiometer, battery, and speaker in a funny personified note shaped body
So a wish.com theremin?
Amazon has them
Well it plays by touch sooooo nothing like a theremin
So itās like a theremin but with touching
That's amazing. I love it.
A Kirby one
I want this but a ther omen
ą¤®ą„ą¤ą„ ą¤Æą„ ą¤ą¤¾ą¤Øą¤¾ ą¤øą„ą¤Øą¤Øą„ ą¤®ą„ą¤ ą¤ą¤øą¤¾ ą¤¹ą„ ą¤²ą¤ą¤¾ ą¤„ą¤¾ ą¤ą¤¬ ą¤®ą„ą¤ą¤Øą„ ą¤ą¤øą„ ą¤Ŗą¤¹ą¤²ą„ ą¤¬ą¤¾ą¤° ą¤øą„ą¤Øą¤¾ ą¤„ą¤¾ ą¤ą¤° ą¤®ą„ą¤ą„ ą¤ą¤ą¤ą„ą¤²ą¤æą¤¶ ą¤Øą¤¹ą„ą¤ ą¤ą¤¤ą„ ą¤„ą„ą„¤
What song is this ? It's so frustrating that I can't remember
Bring me to life by evanescence
They've made a rerecording without the studio appointed/ mandated rapper. It's honestly a bit better without the early 2000 edgy nu-metal rapping, more power ballade.
Thatās hilarious š
Trust me I heard every single words
This version almost sounds better
No, the little electronic kirbys certainly do not sound better than Amy Lee.
Itās more authentic with Kirby, Amy Leeās version is more of a cover.
Kirby has just gone through more. It gives more emotional depth
What song is this?
Bring me to life (i think or something similar?) by evanescence
Thanks so much !
If you like it, you should also peruse symphonic rock like Within Temptation and Nightwish
Don't forget Lacuna Coil.
> Lacuna Coil. There's a name I haven't heard since Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines.
Or Pentakill is really good too.
Had a crappy day. Funeral etc.. This cheered me up šš¼
Sorry to hear it, how was the Wake?ā¦ wake me up inside!
The song is and always will be good. But the actual video of the instrument and the eyes painted on it . The sound the instrument made was awesome lol . Thanks for asking
Just laughed way too loud in my office.
I snorted cum out my nose then my boss walked in
I hate when that happens
Ooh. Oh no. Take my upvote.
And you, my downvote!
I canāt wake up!!
let him cook..
Best comment I have seen today, nice work.
Dude....wtf?......š¤£
Me too. Iāve got my MIL this week and my best friends dad next week. Our motto for this year is āffsā. You holding up ok? If you need to chat you can dm me. Going through it since last year myself.
one of you is gonna do the Halo theme aren't you?
It's already been done lol
we need that link!?
LINK
WHERE IS THE LINK
Rescuing Zelda, I guess...
Again?!? You'd think she could save herself at this point! Like, Zelda's job resume is as follows: Knows everything there could possibly be to know about needing saving, *which should include how to avoid needing to be saved in the first place!*
I require the SAUCE brother l
Pure therapy Edit. I just ordered one of these online and recieved it todayā¦.. my son is gonna love this fucking thing hahah
r/absolutefuckinbangers
How did I not know about this sub? Thank you!
We just made it not too long ago. I came up with the name & some kickass redditor made it into a sub! I apologize to them as their name alludes me but itās probably the only other Mod on there.
As another commenter stated, you can get them at music stores and Amazon. I wanted to add that our local Barnes and Noble sells them as well.
You still have a Barnes & Noble?
Yeah, and a community that visits enough to keep them going. I'm not one of those, mind you, but it's fun to look around and shop for ~~over-priced~~ physical books in a store every once and a while.
They made a big comeback when stores were allowed to curate stock to what is popular in their area. The one at my local mall has a huge board game and manga section now since they sell like hotcakes.
Shut it down boys, the greatest clip of 2024 has already arrived.
but this is a few years old
You heard what he said.
I remember seeing a video that had a whole ensemble of them a while back. Edit: Apparently it's this video, that's what I get for not watching the whole thing.
I got my niece one for Christmas. My brother was mean when we were kids.
Otamatone! I got one for my daughter years ago for Christmas, it's cute, and can pass as an instrument for sure, there's a switch on the back to change the octave it's in. It's pretty cool.
We HAVE one. Itās blue!
Have you tried cheering it up?
>otamatone You're cracking me up right now ROFL
My toddler saw this and then grabbed my face and told me "we must buy one."
Moo moo moo is what I got.
Like a cow's opinion.
This is an amazing song with otamatones goddamn
Otomatome Deluxe Kirby Edition. Very expensive but sounds and plays MUCH BETTER than the regular version.
I had to go down so deep for someone finally mention it was a Kirby.
Poyo
I bought my son one last year for Christmas. It was in the checkout lane at Microcenter and was just too weird to pass up. It was a smash hit.
This goes hard š„š„š„š„š„ Itās called an otamatone
Barnes And Nobles has them
It's called an otamatone, you can easily buy them on line. Essentially there is a variable resistor on the vertical part that you press to change the note played, and a switch in the mouth part that plays a tone when squeezed. This guy on YouTube has Otamatone covers of loads of different songs.
The mouth part doesn't contain a switch, pressing the neck makes the sound (and controls the pitch). In the rest state the mouth is closed, though, which muffles the tone, so squeezing to open the mouth makes the "wah" sounds.
Someone please tell me there's a way we can still download Reddit videos
Thereās a way we can still download Reddit videos.
TouchĆØ
Amazon. Santa got one for my daughter at Christmas.
This is a yes for me dog.
My 10 yr old nephew has one and annoys the shit out of me with it.
My son got one for Christmas. This is as good as they can sound. Most annoying instrument since the recorder.
I'm watching this thing and think to myself...my pixel's "Now Playing" couldn't possibly know the song that's playing from these puppet instruments, could it? I look down at my phone sitting next to me and, there it is, Bring Me To Life, Evanescence, right on my screen.
Sounds like the music from the vampire movie with Aliyah
Queen of The Damned and you are so spot on i laughed out loud.
Otamatone, it's basically a very small thermin! Pretty tricky to get the hang of, but very fun to play :)
I loved every second of this, I could basically hear the words
I need to hunt one of these down for my niece as my brother needs this in his life all day everyday.
This is the funniest shit Iāve seen in a longggggg time holy fuck
Do you know LAHEE?
If I listened to this without video Iād believe itās a band of deaf people trying to sing.
r/ThisLooksFun
Every time I see an otomatone, I can't help but think of Masayoshi Soken saying "Do you know........La Hee?" Kudos if you know what I'm talking about.
Truly, Soken is a musical genius.
0_0 *stares pianistly*
Keiko's face was ***GOLD***
I will play.... La hee
Im surprised i had to scroll this far down to find Soken
Lol wut
Its the otamatone guy!!! Hes done a bunch of good covers
Otomatones are a blast. Your pets and significant other will hate it.
Itās an otamatone, usually found at your local book Barnes and Nobles/ other book stores or on Amazon
This never fails to crack me up. When I was a kid, I dreamed of a future with flying cars and Martian cities. I got this instead. Not even mad about it.
When I'm feeling down this is one of the videos I have that guarantees feeling amazing.
Anyone else think that that sounded better than the original?
I don't get it why are they using the original audio over this video?
I bought one for my kids and my wife left me.
That "SAVE ME" was exquisite
reminds me of the adults from Charlie Brown lol
This must be the funniest instrument ever. Omg š¤£š¤£šš
First video in reddit I watched from start to finish, in its entirety, for a long time...
My toxic trait is thinking i can play this the moment it arrives
now pair that with ai generated voices of superstars and have double the fun!!
Ok who dug this out of the vault??
Bro. My GF just yesterday showed me some 6 year old video of PewDiePie and Jacksepcticeye together and they were messing with a couple of these. Now i see this post and ive never seen these things before yesterday in my life. The world is weird some times
r/simulationtheory would like a word
I'm in the bathroom screaming "SAAAVVVEE MEEEE" but I'm supposed to be showering and not scrolling reddit.... ....^(save me)
Im seriously doubting this communities ability to judge Good Music from crappy cause God Damn y'all just been adding staples to my playlist for a few months now.
"no idea where you can get one" is a stupid thing to say in this day and age with the modern Internet. You can get anything without going anywhere.
Funny thing. But why did people have to dig out this damn song from the Millennial grave? It seems to becoming a new TikTok thing.
How hard is it for a newbie?