Monome is a small Catskills based hardware company that makes controllers for electronic music performance and new media art. Their first product, 40h, is an eight by eight grid of backlit buttons, which connects to a Mac or PC using a USB cable and the OpenSound Control protocol. Originally developed as an open ended performance interface for electronic music, its developers have said "The wonderful thing about this device is that it doesn't do anything really,".[1] As a result developers have begun to use it as an interface for other types of software, you can even play games on it.

The 40h was released on May 1, 2006, though units were available in person at the release party at Asphodel and Maker Faire. Four hundred 40h units were made and all were sold by May 2007. A kit version of the 40h has been made available twice, both sets selling out. The second run of 100, made available on November 30, 2007, sold in under 24 hours. The two fifty six (16x16) was available, but was sold out by November 7, 2007. The one twenty eight (16x8) was made available on December 14, 2007; 80 of which sold in the first fifteen minutes, the rest selling in the next few hours.[2] A new sixty four, to replace the 40h, was made available on January 25, 2008 and sold out in two minutes.

Tenori-on is an electronic musical instrument, designed and created by Japanese artist, Toshio Iwai and Yu Nishibori of the Music and Human Interface Group, Yamaha Center for Advanced Sound Technology. It consists of a screen, held in the hands, of a sixteen by sixteen grid of LED switches, any of which can be activated in a number of ways to create an evolving musical soundscape. The LED switches are held within a aluminum frame, which has two built-in speakers located on the top of frame, as well as a dial and buttons that control the type of sound and beats per minute produced. There is also an LCD screen on the bottom edge of the frame. Using the connection function, it is possible to play a synchronized session, or to send and receive songs between two of the devices.