Technologies That Transform: Reimagining the Future of Music #3

February 7, 2024

The Upcycling Guitars team creates unique guitars out of unused materials, while TransVox technology instantaneously changes a singer’s voice into that of another person. Both exemplify Yamaha’s efforts to generate value in musical experiences. The common “Key” that runs through these stories is the enthusiasm to nurture the “seeds” of technology and reimagine a new and better society.

Discovering Untapped Potential

“Innovation often happens where people least expect it,” says Keijiro Saino, who is involved in the development of TransVox. For example, no one could have imagined being able to do everything on a palm-size machine before smartphones were invented. “I think it’s important to develop the ‘seeds’ of technology and put them out to the world, even if there is no tangible need for them yet. It is this kind of seed-driven approach that can someday change the world,” he says.

Yamaha’s singing voice analysis technology, which became the basis for TransVox, was no exception. At the time, Saino and his team had no idea how this technology could be applied in real life. With the help of their colleagues, however, they were able to invent the Narikiri Microphone and provide a novel karaoke experience. Singing voice analysis technology is a seed that still has much potential to blossom into different applications in the future.

Hideto Matsuda, a planner working on the Upcycling Guitars project, also emphasizes the importance of embracing the blank slate when trying to generate new value. He elaborates. “In a usual guitar development project, we work off an existing model. This project, however, was different because we were trying to design a completely new guitar from scratch. While it was certainly challenging, it was exciting to learn how to create something from the ground up.”

As we saw in the previous article, the characteristics of the wood are intimately linked to all other aspects of the instrument. It would be impossible to reproduce an existing guitar model perfectly using different wood. “No matter how environmentally sustainable your instrument may be, it cannot maintain the interest of users in the long run if they think it is inferior to existing guitars,” Matsuda says. “That’s why, rather than trying to create copies of guitars that already exist, we want to see the potential in the wood we are using and create designs that add new values to the instrument. I think this will lead to sustainability in the true sense of the word.”

Synergy of Technology and Sensibility

Generating new value, however, is not as easy as it may sound. Innovation is not achieved single-handedly; rather, it is born through the synergy of diverse types of technologies and sensibilities.

Without Yamaha’s extensive experience in musical instrument development and production, the Upcycling Guitars team wouldn’t have been able to create the Model Marimba and Model Piano. Take, for example, the golden trim inspired by metal resonators of the marimba. When Matsuda first saw the drawings by the designer, he sensed that it would be a challenge because metal binding on wood had never been done before on guitars. “We talked to many people inside and outside Yamaha, and finally one of the prototype experts working on brass instruments agreed to give it a try,” he explains.

The metalworking experts in the brass instrument department and the woodworking specialists working on guitar production had countless discussions on how to make the two materials work together. “Metal and wood require different painting and gluing techniques, so it was really thanks to the collaboration of the specialists that we were able to make the designer’s idea a reality,” says Matsuda. This story illustrates that cross-departmental collaborations not only lead to one-time solutions, but also new techniques that can be useful in the future.

Similarly, it was thanks to the marketing team that TransVox had developed into an exciting service like the Narikiri Microphone. As soon as they saw the potential in the fledgling technology, the marketing team started making proposals for collaboration to record labels and karaoke companies. By quickly sealing the deals, they had set a goal for TransVox to be released for the users to enjoy.

Saino remembers feeling anxious as the marketing team moved things forward so quickly. “But if they hadn't pushed us, this technology may have never seen the light of day,” he says. “I’m grateful that we could make it a team effort, because that’s what made the Narikiri Microphone possible.” What drove the project forward was the collaboration of the two departments’ sensibilities — the R&D team’s ingenuity to create new value from scratch, and the marketing team’s dedication to deliver that value to the users.

New Technologies for Reimagining the Future

“Whether we like it or not, technology will always be advanced by someone,” Saino says. “That’s why I think it’s important to have conversations about what kind of future we want and choose to advance technology in ways that we believe will benefit the world.”

Saino thinks that TransVox is a step toward creating a world where anyone can enjoy singing. “There are many people in the world who don’t like singing,” he says. “It could be because they dislike their own voice, or they feel insecure about it.” Technologies like TransVox can empower people by eliminating the distinguishing characteristics of their voice and allowing them to enjoy “changing into” other people. If transforming voices was as easy as changing outfits, people might just be able to enjoy singing with less anxiety. The technology could also help people who have physical problems with their voice.

Even the definition of “singing” itself could change in the future. “We now define singing as vibrating your vocal cords to produce sound,” Saino explains. “But the interpretation of the word could expand as technology advances.” Perhaps singing could include using the help of software systems like TransVox, or even hardware that replaces the role of the vocal cords. “I personally find it exciting to imagine what kind of technology could help more people to enjoy the act of singing,” he adds.

Making Upcycling Guitars can also be an opportunity to reimagine the guitar. According to Matsuda, instruments with a long history tend to be treated as something already perfected and unchangeable. For example, guitar communities tend to favor traditional designs over more modern ones. “I think, though, that musical instruments can and should be updated with the times. Instruments with new characteristics can stimulate the creativity of players and give birth to new kinds of music,” He says. “I hope that the Upcycling Guitars can inspire that kind of change as well.”

An instrument that represents the next generation can spark the curiosity of new players in ways that vintage guitars cannot. If users can choose from more novel and unique guitars, Matsuda believes, music can become more diverse and interesting.

TransVox changes singing voices with the power of AI, while Upcycling Guitars utilize unused materials to create guitars never seen before. Saino and Matsuda, with the help of many people around them, are harnessing the potential of technology to achieve extraordinary transformations. These transformations could also be their way of giving us a glimpse at a reimagined future. They continue their research, nurturing the seeds of technology that may become the innovations of tomorrow.

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