Otamatone Deluxe Electronic Musical Instrument - Portable Digital Synthesizer from Japan for Adults, Teens & Kids - Fun Electric Music Toy by Cube/Maywa Denki - Perfect Gift for Music Lovers (Black) [English Manual Included] - Great for Home Play, Music Education & Creative Performances

I had the little yellow one and got a kick out of it. A friend of mine liked it so I gave that one to him and ordered this larger more advanced one. The sound and touch sensitivity is a lot better, and the larger size is a bit easier. I just wish it came in the same sunny yellow color as the smaller one. Now I just have to learn how to not be bad at it! I do wish it came with a practice music sheet like the little one did.Just do it. Add it to your cart. No regrets.If you want to burn through batteries quickly in the most annoying way possible then look no further. Without frets I cannot learn to play anything on this thing, but it was amusing harassing my dogs with it for awhile.I'm in love. It's unique, works well with no issues, and everyone (young and old) who sees it at my house LOVES playing with it. Great buy that will lead to great memories!Awesome Otamatone!Very coolI love the wah sounds this lil fella makes when you play it and squeeze its little face. my dog loves hearing me play. im not very good yet but I feel myself getting better every time I attempt a new lick usually I can't even hold an instrument properly but here I am belting out torero with a japanese puppetThe Otamatone Deluxe is NOT a children's toy (unless the child is one of those unusual ones who is careful with their toys and their friends). If your child has any remnant of "hulk smash", ninja-sword slash, caveman bash-type of energy left in them, this is NOT an appropriate gift as they will break it very, very quickly. That said, if you're reasonably mature and careful, this instrument feels well-made enough to last for years of occasional noodling.The touch-strip is pleasingly responsive and does not require too much pressure to play. Pitch-wise, the note spacing is not linear, but rather wider at the top and tighter at the bottom end of the strip, similar to a stringed instrument. If you have large fingertips, you may have trouble playing in tune near the bottom end of the strip, especially in the mid- and high-range settings.Sounds ugly to many but I love it. Once you learn to play with expression, it is far more tolerable for haters and enjoyable for music geeks and other lovers.I'd love to hack it to add CV pitch output -- haven't broken it down but if it's the same analogue circuitry as the original, I see no reason it couldn't be done.This is the second Otamatone that I have. The first was a present from Japan four years ago, and I wanted a back up one in case the first one ever broke. I use it in a stage act. My first otamatone I built a hard case for it, because as it is made of plastic and I thought it probably could easily be broken. However,it is still going strong four years later after being lugged around the country in a backpack all that time. I play it every day. The thing that gives it its unique character is the "Wah Wah" effect of opening and closing the mouth, which makes it sound like a small toddler learning to talk. They are quite difficult to learn how to play, but that is part of the fun of the instrument. I recommend you buy some rechargable batteries for it as it does use a lot of battery power.Basically a stylophone with a capacitive (touch!) keyboard, makes the same type of noises too. My kids geniunely love these (we have two), me I'm not so keen on the noise (or maybe the lack of music talent)...Would I recommend this, yes; but as a gift for someone else's kids (particularly if you aren't too fond of their parents).Works perfectly, but I would recommend you buy the larger one as this one his quite small and difficult to play. It also cannot be connected to headphones like the larger one and will annoy your roommate with the end result of having to buy the larger one anyway because you need to practise playing it. Buying the bigger one allows you to skip the middle part of buying this then buying the bigger one.It's a great little instrument, and quirky too, which was just what we wanted as a present for our friend.The item was delivered on time, well wrapped and as described.