100 volts. And what you can do with them.

August 1, 2007 5:31 AM

Time once again to pay a little visit to Japan's ever-engaging electro-mechanical music overachievers, Maywa Denki. Here's some of their latest and greatest efforts.
posted by flapjax at midnite (26 comments total)

Excellent find. Don't miss the instruments in action. I found some background info here.
posted by swordfishtrombones at 5:47 AM on August 1, 2007

I like that.
posted by pracowity at 6:07 AM on August 1, 2007

Neato. Thanks.
posted by tentacle at 6:14 AM on August 1, 2007

I like the use of household current and regular sized plugs and outlets.
All this could be done neatly and safely with 5-12VDC, but it's much more fun to have to wear rubber gloves and create sparks.
posted by MtDewd at 6:17 AM on August 1, 2007

Yes. "You need to wear gloves to prevent electric shocks." (When playing the Ultra Folk electromechanical guitar.)

Not 'UL Approved'.
posted by pracowity at 6:18 AM on August 1, 2007

Those tap dance shoes were hilarious. Great find!
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 6:38 AM on August 1, 2007

Very nice!
posted by Herr Fahrstuhl at 7:05 AM on August 1, 2007

This absolutely made my day! utterly fantastic.

Yet more proof that MetaFilter should replace CNBC on the news feeds at my workplace...
posted by EricGjerde at 7:15 AM on August 1, 2007

This reminds me of the mechanical orchestras at The House on the Rock, only this doesn't suck. The singing robots are particularly creepy.
posted by cosmicbandito at 7:16 AM on August 1, 2007

Absolutely fantastic stuff.
posted by potch at 7:16 AM on August 1, 2007

I so want to work there.
posted by Artful Codger at 7:21 AM on August 1, 2007

Does anybody know Tom Waits' e-mail address, because he...actually, no, no, forget about it. That would be almost harmfully good.
posted by Tiresias at 7:31 AM on August 1, 2007

面白い〜！　ども！
posted by gomichild at 7:46 AM on August 1, 2007

This knocks.
posted by rlk at 7:59 AM on August 1, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Yes.
posted by DU at 8:04 AM on August 1, 2007

I can totally see their singing and xylophone machines scaring the crap out of me if they were the background of a Kubrick film.

This is really awesome!
posted by spec80 at 8:29 AM on August 1, 2007

Using a large hissing, slightly leaky steam engine generator would be more fun than plugging their gear into the wall, but that looks fun nonetheless.
posted by snarfodox at 8:36 AM on August 1, 2007

excellent
posted by vronsky at 9:41 AM on August 1, 2007

I saw them live about 5 years ago, it's a great show. Basically it plays like a company presentation, they introduce each instrument as a product and they make music as a demonstration.
The big finish is their company song.
The group is lead by two brothers, now i think only one is still working on it. Originally it was their father electrical appliance company but when they inherited it they tranformed it into a weird art project while keeping with the company image.
posted by SageLeVoid at 9:47 AM on August 1, 2007

Offhand, I can't think of anything better than this. Thank you.
posted by clockwork at 10:28 AM on August 1, 2007

Loved those xylophone flowers and flamenco tap shoes/castanets. Totally delightful and fun.
posted by nickyskye at 3:29 PM on August 1, 2007

God, I love these guys. One of my exes has a live video of one of the presentations that Sage LeVoid mentions, and it's fantastic. Always great to see some new stuff from them.
posted by cathodeheart at 4:16 PM on August 1, 2007

Made my day. Thanks!

Now...where to get me some "knockers"?...
posted by Jilder at 9:10 PM on August 1, 2007

Brilliant, thanks very much!
posted by Wolof at 9:45 PM on August 1, 2007

Woo!
posted by CitrusFreak12 at 12:14 PM on August 2, 2007

Looks like they are trying to do this stuff for real.
posted by waltb555 at 12:34 PM on August 3, 2007