Fantasia Announces Discover Maywa Denki Event at 27th Edition, July 20-August 9

Press release follows:

Cool Kawaii Musical Toys From Japan!
Discover Maywa Denki and Otamatoons at Fantasia 2023

Montreal, Canada’s Fantasia International Film Festival, North America’s largest and longest-lived genre film festival, is proud to welcome Japanese musical toy pop-culture company Maywa Denki and its co-founder Novmichi Tosa, as well as the world premiere of the Otamatoon short film series (co-produced by Maywa Denki and Slowcurve Co.) at its 2023 edition, July 20 – August 9!

Visit any variety store or musical instrument shop in Japan, and it’s likely that you’ll find a rack devoted to a novelty toy synthesizer called the Otamatone, a strange device with a small but dedicated global fan base. Coming in a variety of sizes, the simple electronic musical instrument with the appearance of a cartoon eighth note, first issued in 2010, is the best known of the many creations of Maywa Denki. The Tokyo-based company reconciles high art and lowbrow commerce, democratizing creativity while legitimizing silly fun as a noble pursuit.

At the heart of Maywa Denki is its co-founder, inventor, musician, artist, and entrepreneur Novmichi Tosa. On the cultural map, he could be situated somewhere between Devo and Blue Man Group, Harry Partch and Alexander Calder, and Akihiro Yokoi and Aki Maita (inventors of the Tamagotchi). His latest project, with his Maywa Denki colleagues and anime development firm Slowcurve Co., is the OTAMATOON series of short, wordless video vignettes, using MIDI and animatronics to bring the Otamatone and its assortment of associated kawaii noisemakers to life.

Not only is Fantasia proudly presenting the world premieres of the first five OTAMATOONS, which will pop up before various feature films in our schedule, the festival is welcoming Tosa-san himself for DISCOVER MAYWA DENKI, a free artist talk/workshop event. It’s an introduction to Maywa Denki’s history, an encounter with its most popular products in action, an unveiling of the OTAMATOON series, and a chance to meet Tosa-san in person, as well as purchase Maywa Denki items rarely seen in North America!

Discover Maywa Denki event (free admission):

Friday, July 28, 7 p.m.
York Amphitheatre
Concordia University, EV Building EV-1.605,
1515 St. Catherine W Montreal, Quebec Canada

Maywa Denki information: https://otamatone.jp/en/
Slowcurve Co. Information: https://www.slowcurve.co.jp/en/
Fantasia Festival: https://fantasiafestival.com/en/

Otamatone KISS - Gene Simmons Version

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via this auction

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Otamatone "Deluxe" [Japanese Edition] Electronic Musical Instrument

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via this auction

Some pics of the box / packaging.

You can find demos of the Otamatone in previous posts here.

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Rocket Man - Otamatone Cover

Published on Mar 3, 2018 Michael Thomas Connolly

"In the early 70s, facing a fuel shortage and budgetary cuts, NASA experimented briefly with non-human mission commanders."

Circuit Bent Otamatone Melody by freeform delusion

Published on Apr 28, 2014 freeform delusion·169 videos

freeform-delusion on eBay | Circuit Bent

"Circuit Bent Maywa Denki Otamatone Melody - This is just a quick video. The little Otamatone circuit is rehoused but I kept the fun "Wah, Wah, Wah" mouth function. This now acts a pitch control because I have put two Light Dependent Resistors inside his mouth so depending on the lighting in the room, the pitch control can be soft or extreme

I have added the following mods to it:
Switched 1/4inch mono jack output
On/Off Button
Green On LED
Red Sound LED
New buttons to play each function
Hold Note Toggle Switch
Pitch Up/Down Control
Switchable LDRs for Pitch Up or Down
Trigger input with On/Off button and Red LED indicator

.fd. online
Facebook - freeform delusion
Twitter - https://twitter.com/freeformd
eBay - Search for - Circuit Bent
My older Circuit Bending channel - http://youtube.com/eecouk"

Circuit Bent Otamatone Melody "Wah, Wah, Wah" Demo by freeform delusion

Published on Apr 27, 2014 freeform delusion·168 videos

freeform-delusion on eBay | Circuit Bent

"Circuit Bent Maywa Denki Otamatone Melody - This is just a quick video. The little Otamatone circuit is rehoused but I kept the fun "Wah, Wah, Wah" mouth function. This now acts a pitch control because I have put two Light Dependent Resistors inside his mouth so depending on the lighting in the room, the pitch control can be soft or extreme. I will do another longer video to show everything I've done.

Here's a full list of the mods:
Switched 1/4inch mono jack output
On/Off Button
Green On LED
Red Sound LED
New buttons to play each function
Hold Note Toggle Switch
Pitch Up/Down Control
Switchable LDRs for Pitch Up or Down
Trigger input with On/Off button and Red LED indicator

.fd. online
Facebook - freeform delusion
Twitter - https://twitter.com/freeformd
eBay - Search for - Circuit Bent
My older Circuit Bending channel - http://youtube.com/eecouk"

Black Otamatone

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"Bought from ThinkGeek. Clean and works wonderfully, from non pet, non smoking home. Each corner of the silicon mouth has tiny crack that developed, but they are not spreading. See pic for close-up."

See the Otamatone label below for more posts including a video of one.

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Michael Hearst - Ode To Odd Instruments

YouTube Uploaded by oneringzero on Jul 31, 2011

"Including (in order of appearance): Knockman "Chachak," daxophone, Hohner claviola, bass melodica, stylophone, otamatone, Moog theremin, Elasticbrand Audioware rattle, porter's bell. Also featuring Maddie the cat.

www.michaelhearst.com"

OTAMATONE Mini Mouth Synth! - Unboxing And Jam - Happy Holidays!

YouTube via VJFranzK | December 26, 2010 |

"'Make it talk!' Well, sort of. It looks like a musical note - with a mouth and eyes. You play it by pressing the ribbon controller on it's "tail" and then pressing the "cheeks" to open and close it's rubber mouth."

Otamatone on eBay

Otamatone vs SX-150 vs Kaossilator

YouTube via karenevil

"Otamatone is difficult to play..."

オタマトーン Otamatone

YouTube via jetdaisuke.

Otamatone on Amazon