Otamatone Musical Note Synthesizer

Product Description

The Otamatone is an electronic musical synthesizer. It was developed in Japan in 1998 by the CUBE toy company and the Maywa Denki design firm. The Otamatone is a singing toy whose body is shaped like an eighth note (it also somewhat resembles a tadpole, "otamajakushi" being Japanese for "tadpole"), with sound emerging from a "mouth" on the notehead. It requires two hands to play: while one hand holds and squeezes the "head", the other hand controls the pitch of the tune by placing the finger on a ribbon controller on the stem; a higher position on the stem creates a lower sound. The ribbon controller is deliberately delinearized to resemble a guitar, so there is a shorter distance between higher notes than between lower ones. Varying the pressure on the head (thereby opening and closing the "mouth" of the Otamatone) creates a wah-wah effect, and shaking the neck (and thereby slightly changing pressure on the head) creates a vibrato effect. Switches on the back of the head allow users to change octave, turn it off or on, or change the volume. The sound made by this toy can be compared to the sound of a theremin, synthesizer, or jinghu.

Features

• STAY SAFE AT HOME while having fun with your family!
• BEST SELLING – One of Japan's best selling musical Instrument Portable Synthesizer toys!
• FUN & EASY TO PLAY - You can create different sound and pitch by pressing down the middle part of the Otamatone. By sliding down your finger up and down, you can create higher and lower tone. ※AAA Batteries ×3 (INCLUDED) ※Body Size: Approx 10.6" (27 cm)
• Otamatone's face is made out of rubber, and by pushing his cheeks and making his mouth move around, the volume and the bass of the sound changes.
• When you press the cheek, mouth will open. It is a musical insturment, you can enjoy the sound.

Top Reviews

What have I done?
by Donovan Voutiritsas (5 out of 5 stars)
June 13, 2017

Forgive me father for what I have brought into this house. It was money well spent as a gift for a younger sibling but no one has slept in days, the batteries won't die, and Greensleeves is the only song we know now. I keep screaming but god won't answer. Repent your sins for this toy shall be the end of all you hold dear.
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New favorite thing
by Katherine (5 out of 5 stars)
April 6, 2017

Pros: greatest toy instrument ever, easy to change batteries, extremely adorable, everyone loves it

Cons: it's not as loud as I thought it would be, gets dusty quickly due to the gummy-matte surface.

Verdict: I want to buy 10 and form a choir.
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For an Evil Gift...
by BeepBoop (5 out of 5 stars)
April 17, 2013

My brother wouldn't give me any ideas on what to buy his kids for Christmas, so I made it my mission to seek out the most annoying toys in existence. Children love this toy and parents hate it, which is the perfect balance for an evil toy.

I keep finding friends with kids to buy them for. >:)
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I have stopped speaking and now solely communicate through my otamatone.
by equalistmako (5 out of 5 stars)
October 26, 2013

Everyone I care about has now given up attempting to talk to me. I've lost contact with friends, family members, pets...

Small children cry when they see me approaching.

My ears have yet to cease bleeding since I starting playing the instrument.

I haven't eaten or slept in weeks.

But, in the famous words of Miley Cyrus, I can't stop.

And I won't stop.

Yeah-e-yeah.
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Adorable, but requires a little pushing.
by Evonne N. (5 out of 5 stars)
October 22, 2017

I bought this as a gift for my musician boyfriend, and he pretty much has double my hand dimensions (I'm 5' 3", and he's 6' 3"). At first he complained that it was hard to play the notes, as he had to press pretty hard to make the notes come out. He was also disappointed that you didn't need to move the mouth for it to play the note, but that was a blunder on our part for not knowing. After playing it nonstop for a couple hours, he started playing songs as if he were practicing them for days, as the part that played the notes began to "break in" and his fingers became accustomed to where it needed to be. He and everyone who has seen it says it's absolutely adorable, and now we're just crossing our fingers and hoping that it'll last us more than the month that other people are experiencing breakage.
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More Amusing than Annoying
by Elizabeth M. (5 out of 5 stars)
December 27, 2018

This thing is hilarious. My 15 y.o. daughter asked for it for Christmas. I was a little discouraged that none of the ones for sale had great reviews, which is why we went with this model over the more expensive one. (Why bother spending $50 if it breaks). But so far it seems fine. I'll update this review once we've had it 6 months or so but right now I can't find anything wrong with it. She's already figured out how to play a couple songs on her own. I like that there are 2 volume settings. Even on high it's not obnoxiously loud, just enough to hear when people are talking. I also liked that the packaging was all in Japanese. Not that it matters, it just looked cool.
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although I find it extremely annoying. It literally sounds like a dying cat
by latejune (4 out of 5 stars)
May 11, 2018

My son really wanted this thing, & he just loves it. Not sure exactly why! It makes all the noises he says it's supposed to, although I find it extremely annoying. It literally sounds like a dying cat. I just make him play it in his room. Lol. I think he found out about it on YouTube, so there ya go! If your kid knows how to play a recorder, he or she will know how to play this instrument, it's fairly easy. I suggest not letting them play the higher pitched of the two sounds, because it's pretty wretched sounding! Also, it's much smaller than I thought it was going to be, so they need to be careful with the neck of the instrument.
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Fun little instrument.
by Kevin C. (5 out of 5 stars)
September 24, 2016

Fun little gift I got for my father a couple years ago. He loves instruments and this is a fun little gift for that musical person in your life. The batteries last surprisingly long. I did not expect them to last very long a the maximum sound level, but they did. Also fun to use with the dog.
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its way more simple than the ones on youtube. i think this is the 'basic' model.
by George (1 out of 5 stars)
August 27, 2018

I hate it, super boring. it's like a stick you have to squeeze really hard to get a tone with no variation in volume. the mouth part doesn't do anything except expose the speaker.

I think the ones on youtube are a deluxe model or something that actually works like an instrument.

I forgot to return this in time now I'm stuck with it.
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A wonderful musical instrument that allows me to replicate the theramin's ...
by Waltar Ego (5 out of 5 stars)
July 14, 2016

A wonderful musical instrument that allows me to replicate the theramin's part in Good Vibrations! This is a big hit when I'm panhandling at Fisherman's Wharf or at AT&T. I recommend that you add it to your repertoire when panhandling to pay off that that new boat you purchased for winter in Florida!

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