Teenage Engineering - First Beer Now Singing Dolls

US Has anyone popped in to see if they are OK? 11/11/22

Teenage Engineering have a history of unusual and off the wall or niche products. They often look amazing, and are highly desirable objects often with a considerable price tag, but sometimes the form comes before function. Anyone try their modular stuff?

But this last couple of weeks they appear to have gone considerably off-piste. First up the Beer - an "Okinawa style clear lager" brewed by Stigbergets in Sweden and branded with the TE Nut logo - I wouldn't say no if I'm honest - at around £2.50 or so a pint (500ml) its very reasonably priced. Sadly its only available in Sweden for TE Beers now.

It certainly sounds like a great fun place to work, certainly varied, and if the Reverb top selling lists are anything to go by, the OP-1 Field must be funding all these new ideas - good for them.

But the new Choir - a set of wooden singing dolls with voice synthesizers in them is on another level of odd. A series of 8 wooden dolls, each representing a different part of the world and with a different vocal range, can be wirelessly 'played' from OP-1 (Field too) or OP-Z or any other Bluetooth MIDI device.

the pre-programmed repertoire of classic songs have been created and performed using an algorithm based on counterpoint melody, a compositional technique that refers to the independent but complementary relationship between two or more lines of melody played at the same time

Its a little weird - something that might not make it past a brief post-Christmas lunch family recital - assuming you have a spare £2k for the set, before everyone goes back to watching classic Christmas films unless you live in the Midsommar community.

But at £249 each, you may feel you have to perform regularly, turning up to any open mic night that will have you and finally becoming "that weirdo with the singing dolls" and shunned by your local community. Or not. You have been warned.

This line in the "how to control them" might provide a clue:

if it gets annoying, it can handle a little smack to turn it off.

Or, they become so sought after, that in a matter of 2 short years,TE provide a series of firmware updates expanding the repertoire to include every song ever recorded, so your original investment becomes multiplied infinitely and you can move them on at a vast profit. Like a sort of wooden NFT.

You decide. You can buy them here - though I bet they have sold out.

https://teenage.engineering/store

Full song list:

1. ERNEST BALL, DAVE REED JR. - LOVE ME, AND THE WORLD IS MINE 2. TOM PITTS, RAYMOND EGAN, ROY MARSH - I NEVER KNEW 3. WILHELM STENHAMMAR - WILHELM STENHAMMAR 4. THEODORE MORSE, HENRY BUCK - DEAR OLD GIRL 5. ROBERT SCHUMANN, FRIEDRICH RÜCKERT - GUTE NACHT 6. HARRY ARMSTRONG, RICHARD GERARD HUSCH - SWEET ADELINE 7. TRAD. EUROPEAN - WARM-UP EXERCISE: SIGNORE 8. AL PIANTADOSI, JOE MCCARTHY - IN ALL MY DREAMS, I DREAM OF YOU 9. TRAD. ISRAEL KOLMODIN - DEN BLOMSTERTID NU KOMMER 10. TRAD. AMERICAN FOLK - I'VE BEEN WORKING ON THE RAILROAD 11. MYKOLA LEONTOVYCH - SHCHEDRYK (CAROL OF THE BELLS) 12. TRAD. VIA ROBERT BURNS - AULD LANG SYNE 13. THOMAS MORLEY - NOW IS THE MONTH OF MAYING 14. TRAD. MEDIEVAL - GAUDEAMUS IGITUR 15. TRAD. EUROPEAN - WARM-UP EXERCISE: ZING-A-MAMA 16. SHELTON BROOKS - THE DARKTOWN STRUTTERS' BALL 17. LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN - AN DIE FREUDE 18. CHARLES WOOD, THOMAS OLIPHANT - DECK THE HALLS 19. ADOLF FREDRIK LINDBLAD - EN SOMMARAFTON 20. PIERRE ATTAINGNANT, CÉSAR GEOFFRAY? - TOURDION 21. LES APPLEGATE - GOODBYE MY CONEY ISLAND BABY 22. JOHANN SEBASTIAN BACH - O HAUPT VOLL BLUT UND WUNDEN

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