Me & My Tenori-On Videos

PLP · Post by **PLP** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 8:39 pm

Hey guys,

Thought you may have a laugh watching this.

I made it the day my Tenori-On arrived.

AlanC · Post by **AlanC** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 8:51 pm

Since no-one else is commenting, I'll bite...

I've had my Tenori-On for about a fortnight. It makes a good step-time sequencer subject to it's limitations (no velocity, no controller changes, can't automatically chain patterns, crude MIDI implementation, etc) and it's a heck of a lot of fun to play with - I can waste hours building patterns with it.

So, three weeks on from that video and how are you liking it? Has the novelty factor worn off yet?

PLP · Post by **PLP** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 8:55 pm

AlanC wrote:Since no-one else is commenting, I'll bite...

I've had my Tenori-On for about a fortnight. It makes a good step-time sequencer subject to it's limitations (no velocity, no controller changes, can't automatically chain patterns, crude MIDI implementation, etc) and it's a heck of a lot of fun to play with - I can waste hours building patterns with it.

So, three weeks on from that video and how are you liking it? Has the novelty factor worn off yet?

I completely agree with you and yes the novelty has worn off..

I'm considering a Monome. My friends love the Tenori-On, it's more of a fun conversation piece than anything.

AlanC · Post by **AlanC** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 9:24 pm

Yeah, it's so nearly a great idea, but they dumbed it down a bit too much, I guess in the interests of keeping it easy for anyone to use. Then there's stuff like the rotate feature in the random mode that's very clever but not that musically useful, and the "distinctive" sound set that's a bit too cute and plinky for comfort. I never want to hear those layer default sounds again!

It's still a very quick and easy way of building up rhythms and sequences, though.

As for the Monome, well the 256 version, ready built, is even more expensive than the Tenori-On!

BTW is the clock on yours stuck in 2052 every time you try to reset it?

PLP · Post by **PLP** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 10:21 pm

AlanC wrote:Yeah, it's so nearly a great idea, but they dumbed it down a bit too much, I guess in the interests of keeping it easy for anyone to use. Then there's stuff like the rotate feature in the random mode that's very clever but not that musically useful, and the "distinctive" sound set that's a bit too cute and plinky for comfort. I never want to hear those layer default sounds again!

It's still a very quick and easy way of building up rhythms and sequences, though.

As for the Monome, well the 256 version, ready built, is even more expensive than the Tenori-On!

BTW is the clock on yours stuck in 2052 every time you try to reset it?

Yeah it is LOL! Another let down is the audio out being a headdphone mini jack.

JSRockit · Post by **JSRockit** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 10:26 pm

Are you guys dissappointed due to the price you paid? If it was under $500, would its limitations be easier to live with?

PLP · Post by **PLP** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 10:37 pm

JSRockit wrote:Are you guys dissappointed due to the price you paid? If it was under $500, would its limitations be easier to live with?

No, the price wasn't really an issue with me because it's so unique. Now if it was mass produced and distributed then yeah the price would scare me away. That thing in reality should only be a couple hundo.

AlanC · Post by **AlanC** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 12:07 am

Not really. I'd downloaded the manuals before I bought it so I had a pretty good idea of what the limitations were so I certainly wasn't expecting to be getting something with the capabilities of the Genoqs Octopus at a fraction of the price.

I haven't really owned it long enough to be certain just how useful it'll be but I liked the idea of an interactive hardware step-time sequencer, and within it's limitations I'm having a lot of fun playing with it, plus it's got me doing stuff that I'd never do with a computer or any of the sequencers / arpeggiators built into my synths.

The great thing about it is that it's very quick and easy to use - press the L/R function buttons and the display immediately shows you what you're modifying and the current settings, but in a very short time you get used to where everything is and you can flip round the layers and blocks, change sounds and transpose stuff without having to think about it.

Right at the moment it's unique. Hand made. I know that Music Thing review derided the build quality, but I'd have said it's pretty well made - the case is magnesium alloy, not silvered plastic, and everything is decently finished and feels solid.

Hmm, ask me again in a couple of months.

Let's see if I'm still using it!

PLP · Post by **PLP** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 12:15 am

AlanC wrote:Not really. I'd downloaded the manuals before I bought it so I had a pretty good idea of what the limitations were so I certainly wasn't expecting to be getting something with the capabilities of the Genoqs Octopus at a fraction of the price.

I haven't really owned it long enough to be certain just how useful it'll be but I liked the idea of an interactive hardware step-time sequencer, and within it's limitations I'm having a lot of fun playing with it, plus it's got me doing stuff that I'd never do with a computer or any of the sequencers / arpeggiators built into my synths.

The great thing about it is that it's very quick and easy to use - press the L/R function buttons and the display immediately shows you what you're modifying and the current settings, but in a very short time you get used to where everything is and you can flip round the layers and blocks, change sounds and transpose stuff without having to think about it.

Right at the moment it's unique. Hand made. I know that Music Thing review derided the build quality, but I'd have said it's pretty well made - the case is magnesium alloy, not silvered plastic, and everything is decently finished and feels solid.

Hmm, ask me again in a couple of months. Let's see if I'm still using it!

You noticed that too? It is hand made and made quite well but being hand made makes it kind of special. I also agree with you in regards to how it's inspiring you to doing stuff that you'd never done with a computer or any of the sequencers / arpeggiators built into your synths.

JSRockit · Post by **JSRockit** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 3:27 am

Wait...are you dissappointed or not?

konvert · Post by **konvert** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 7:01 am

They can't tell. It's just that much fun

ThinkTanx · Post by **ThinkTanx** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 7:13 am

konvert wrote:They can't tell. It's just that much fun

Seems like it.

AlanC · Post by **AlanC** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 6:04 pm

JSRockit wrote:Wait...are you dissappointed or not?

Sorry, busy playing...

There are aspects that are frustrating. Probably the worst for me is that there are no triplet note durations - it goes quarter, eighth, sixteenth, thirty-second.

There are other things that you can work around: you can't change the duration of the sound within a layer - so you use another layer for the longer notes. You can't control velocity - so you put the accented notes on another layer with a higher volume or a different sound.

There are things I haven't really figured out yet: the rotate feature in random mode seemed pretty useless since the notes change as the pattern you've created spins round, and the results can clash with the rest of your sequence. However I just found a use for it: the drum sounds are arranged so they evolve low to high across the 16 notes (rather than going bass, snare, hi-hat, toms, etc) so if you create a drum pattern and rotate it the rhythm stays the same but the instruments change round, and because adjacent instruments are similar you get a sort of evolving loop.

The problem is that I tend to look at it as a step-time sequencer and get frustrated that it doesn't do many of the things I'd expect a sequencer to do. But that's the wrong way to approach it - it's different, you have to accept it for what it is, and figure out ways to use what it gives you.

No, I'm not disappointed with it. It's fun, but it can be frustrating and at the moment I'm not 100% sure just how useful it'll ultimately be.

JSRockit · Post by **JSRockit** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 6:53 pm

AlanC wrote:It's fun, but it can be frustrating and at the moment I'm not 100% sure just how useful it'll ultimately be.

I guess that can be said for many pieces of gear. I've felt that way about most of the gear I've owned.

Post by **shaft9000** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 6:03 pm

looks like a nice educational tool for teens or starters. the 1/8" headphone out and onbord sounds are the deal-killer, though.

I'd love to see Yamaha make this with just MIDI up the wazoo....maybe a USB jack to sequence VSTs and simplify data dumps...but LEAVE OUT the shoddy audio implementation - those are vast waters to be wading into for a visually-enhanced control device.

the reliability of touch-screens is a bit worrying, though. Is that fiber-optic or LED?