Yamaha Reimagines Classic Musical Tools For Today To Revive The Joy Of Touch

Musical devices like the phonograph and record player have become nearly obsolete due to technology.

Unfortunately, fading alongside these objects, in favor of smartphones and the like, is the gratification of touch. Wouldn’t you wish to have some tactility in your life again?

Yamaha has lived and breathed music for years, and it’s clearly missing the good old days. That’s why it’s embarked on a new project called Stepping Out of The Slate to give old-school music devices a 21st-century spin. Discover them below.

Smartphone record player

Meet the ‘TurnT’, a record player that does not require any physical records to play music. Instead, it needs a digital device—your smartphone—to accompany it.

Using a compatible app, you can turn your smartphone into a record to be placed under the rubber needle of ‘TurnT’, which will then read music and play it just as a record player would.

While vinyl players have come back in fashion, they still can’t beat the expansive collection and ease of digital streaming giants such as Spotify and Apple Music. Yamaha imagines a product where you’ll never have to give up a wide array of choices for a turntable.

Modern-day musical box

Another creation is the ‘Winder’, a little wooden box with a metal key winder in it. It acts as a music box that is connected to your phone and will need to be wound up to play a song. Its spring also gives a certain texture to the music as you would find in music boxes. Not only that, this little wooden box will take you right back to childhood with its mechanism.

Only this time, instead of a tinny version of a Mozart piece, you can opt for your favorite rock song.  

Candle that flickers with your music

‘MusicLight’, another concept from the collection, takes inspiration from cozy evenings by the fireside as music plays in the background. It requires a candle to be lit in order for the music to be played.

The flickering flame of the candle causes the music to “flicker,” as well. And as the candle slowly burns out, the music will fade with it.  

Metronomes with “life”

The last device, or set of devices, is the ‘RhythmBot’—a group of small percussion devices that, instead of playing music, acts more like a metronome, or accompaniment, as you play an instrument. It’s a whimsical and fun way of redesigning the age-old metronome and injecting some life into it.  

These little devices add another layer to the music listening experience, offering tactile and fun interactions to create new sensations when you listen to music.  

[via Yanko Design and Yamaha Design Lab, cover image via Yamaha Design Lab]