Otamatone Adorable Japanese Musical Instrument
An Otamatone for lovers of all things cute, girly, and magical! The Otamatone is a cute, quirky, and fun to play electronic musical toy characterized by its eighth note-shaped body, adorable moving mouth, and silly, buzzing, amusingly off-key “voice.”
The Otamatone creates electronic tones that you can control based on the position of your finger on the touch-sensitive fretboard. Use a switch on the back to choose an octave and slide your fingers up and down to play different notes. Open the Otamatone’s mouth with a squeeze to change the sound from a hum to an “ahh” and create a “Wah Wah” effect.
It is a perfect toy for lovers of all things cute, silly, and weird, the Otamatone also makes a great gag gift, and a unique and amusing gift for violinists and other musicians.
Ekaterina Oloy –
I love this thing but definitely too small for my adult hands. Great for people with small fingers and especially kids!
Target Lover AZ –
Fun addition to our unusual instrument collection.
Charles Day –
Ours doesn’t last a week with new batteries and being turned off
Robin –
My son mentioned this instrument to me. I saw some otamatone youtube videos and it looked like fun. I was hesitant because of the cost and saw that there are better quality more professional ones for three times the price. I decided to start with a “beginner” model. It arrived quickly and included instructions, batteries, and a beginner, play by numbers song, “Happy Birthday”. The battery case required a small screwdriver to open and it’s important to be patient and not to force any part of this closed because I think you could easily crack the plastic. There are two settings, higher pitch and medium. I preferred the medium as it sounded more normal. I soon realized that my hands were a bit on the large side to negotiate the keyboard and some dexterity is required if you want to open and close the mouth part with your other hand while playing. I struggled with the enclosed music and eventually decided to add some numbered dots to help me with the placement of some of the tones. My conclusion, like so many others, is that it’s a fun but challenging toy. Based on this, I will not purchase the professional model and once I finally master “Happy Birthday”, with photographic proof of course, I will pass this otamatone on to my son. ***NOTE – Despite how it looks, you don’t blow into it. It’s not a wind instrument.