Japan
16 instruments
Shamisen
A three-stringed lute with a square body covered in skin. Played with a large plectrum cal...
Koto
A 13-string zither over 6 feet long. Tuning is adjusted by movable bridges. The oldest kot...
Taiko
Japanese drumming dating back over 1,700 years. The largest taiko weigh over 300 kg. O-dai...
Shakuhachi
A Japanese bamboo flute with five finger holes. Over 1,300 years of history. Played by Zen...
Tenori-On
A grid-based musical instrument designed by Toshio Iwai. 256 LED buttons on a 16x16 grid. ...
Kaossilator
A pocket-sized synth played by touching a touchpad. The X and Y axes control different par...
Otamatone
A Japanese electronic instrument shaped like a musical note. Squeezing the cheeks opens th...
Roland TB-303
Designed as a bass accompaniment for solo guitarists. Failed commercially at launch. Redis...
Roland TR-808
The drum machine that built hip-hop. The booming kick drum is heard on thousands of record...
Roland TR-909
The drum machine that built techno and house. The hybrid analog and digital design was gro...
Yamaha DX7
The best-selling synthesizer in history at over 200,000 units. FM synthesis created entire...
Korg M1
The best-selling workstation synthesizer. Over 250,000 units sold. The Piano 01 preset def...
Yamaha CS-80
The synthesizer that defined the Blade Runner score. Vangelis created the iconic soundtrac...
Korg MS-20
A semi-modular analog synthesizer. The dual filters are legendary. Over 100,000 units sold...
Sho
A Japanese mouth organ derived from the Chinese sheng. Used in gagaku court music for over...
Hichiriki
A Japanese double-reed instrument used in gagaku. Only 18 cm long but extremely loud. Over...