When You're at the Top of the World, You Can Pay Designers To Build Dreams, Yamaha Does

Folks, in the design world, there are no limits based on functionality or appearance. Here, the only limit is your imagination. However, the limit bar seems to be set a bit higher for teams like Yamaha, which have rather established members working round the clock to create the next ground-breaking machine.

What we’ll be exploring today is nothing more than the result of an exploration or rather “joint” operation between Yamaha Corporation and Yamaha Motor Co., Ltd. “Two Yamahas, One Passion,” it’s called, and this project explores visual and even real products and activities that blend the dynamics, esthetics, and principles of both companies. Results range from nothing more than visual explorations of form to downright functional machines like the Untitled Instrument (UI) we see in the image gallery.

Now, sketches for the UI first appeared on this project’s Instagram page back in March 2022, with a short description about what’s going on with this one. Simply put, this trinket is about exploring how air pressure functions, most importantly, how air is the driving force behind musical instruments and combustion engines.

So, what did they come up with? Well, as best as I can put it, it’s an airplane-o-trumpet that moves and toots, all because of air pressure. As months went by, this initial idea started to go through a diverse range of design and production stages to be finally put together with 3D printed components, glass tubes and air chambers, and a few other pieces that I can’t quite make out the function of.

Here’s where things get interesting. These components are then assembled, tested, and adjusted to create a final machine. But then things start to become a tad unclear. The Instagram page where I discovered this venture does seem to showcase a more advanced UI, with clear glass wheels, air chambers, a trumpet, and even a propellor. But the latest post displays nothing more than a rendering of the complete product, including its functionality. At least, that’s what the video seems to be showcasing.

So, what the heck did somebody get paid to design and build? The video clip starts off with that vertical chamber being pumped a few times. This is where that compression of air comes in. From here, the compressed molecules are used to spin the propellor seem at one end of the UI. All the while pulling the entire contraption along on a set of wheels.

Then, a couple more pumps, and instead of the propellor spinning into action, the opposite end of the UI starts spitting out a few musical notes that make out a melody. Sure, it may be simple, but I feel that may be the whole point of the entire project; to show, as clearly as possible, the effect that air pressure has on our daily lives. Remember, most vehicles on this planet rely on air pressure to function, and so do musical instruments.

Again, the only limits in the design world happen to be your imagination; who says you can’t fuse a trumpet and an airplane motor into one machine? No one but yourself. What really blows my mind is that someone is being paid to come up with this stuff. Then again, so am I.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Yamaha Design Laboratory (@yamahadesignlab)