By Andrew Liszewski If I had to take an educated guess, I would
have thought the name ‘Keromin’ was a combination of Kermit (the
frog) and Theremin. But it turns out that Kero is actually a
Japanese term for the sound a frog makes. Who knew? (I guess
anyone who speaks Japanese.) Anyways, the Keromin is a musical
instrument that’s loosely based on a Theremin, except that it’s
easier to play since all you need to do is stick your hand
inside the puppet and open and close its mouth. The pitch is
determined by the angle of your thumb and forefinger as you
manipulate the mouth, and the volume is controlled by how
strongly you grasp the puppet’s right arm. The Keromin was
created by an engineer named Yuji Okuyama and as the video below
illustrates, it’s the perfect solution for anyone who’s ever
wanted to be a ventriloquist without having to do all the
practicing.