Plus there is the maintenance - I don’t know how delicate these tines are, but a 4 octave could be a nightmare. It seems they intended this to be like 8 separate ‘oscillators’ anyway, each tine with its pickup, so a different concept I guess.
Yeah, the most interesting stuff from it for me is the unquantized rhythms shown in this video.
Because of the limited tones, I think this is going to shine more as a percussion instrument than a melodic one. Since the sequencer is so short, I think it’s something that would need to be actively played to be interesting. Hopefully it’s relatively easy to smoothly switch up rhythms on the fly. Personally I’ve found the traditionally sequenced stuff pretty uninspiring, but if it excels at having that human feel it could be interesting.
It reminds me of that band from the Congo that got a lot of exposure in the early 2000s that made their own instruments. I wonder if this was some inspiration for the designer.
The world is becoming too digital and “artificial” for my tastes, especially with the rise of AI. I like the idea of breaking free from the grid and making electronic music more organic. I’d be up for a world of electronic dance parties fueled by human rhythms. Going back to the African roots. 
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I was thinking of Konono #1 as well!
I would put this Phase 8 into all kinds of distorsion for sure!
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I’d like to see somebody do a track/video/live set/whatever pairing this with the String Armonica mkII
Ok, the latter aint exactly cheap but the combined investment is still less than Metheny’s Ableton-driven Orchestrion which required a technician crew to tour with him to keep it up and running show after show. Somebody expressed a desire for a vibraphone version of the Phase 8 - articles/videos of the Metheny Orchestrion indicate a high level of technical difficulty to get the motors and whatever to play vibraphone and stuff in response to incoming MIDI.
That was always the case for me.
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I was always secretly hoping for tones that reminded me of a vibraphone or Fender Rhodes. Kalimba has never been something I’ve found myself longing for, but now I see the Congotronics possibilities.
As @LyingDalai said, distorting the sounds will hopefully add some interesting timbres.
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I definitely priced a Vintage Vibes electric piano in response to the video.
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That’s the direction I was hoping this technology would lead to also. With care, this tech could create a highly expressive electro acoustic solo instrument. I think that could also broaden its appeal to keys players who have less interest in synthesis, step sequencers, etc.
It’ll be interesting to see how many peeps on this thread end up buying an electromechanical piano.
If you want a modified Phase 8 design incorporating 4 octave keyboard, you might start asking yourself why not just get the piano then…
emp
I’d love to have one.
What are the good electromechanical pianos?
Is there something cheaper than Rhodes or Wurlitzer?
The Nord emulation I guess?
Vintage Vibe was mentioned earlier
There is also the Rhodes: https://rhodesmusic.com/
I tried a Rhodes Mk8 61 at a local shop last fall. Goodness the sound was something else, and I loved the built in FX.
In the end though I ended up buying a Kawai ES-920. Keyboard players were also mentioned in this thread - I think most though tend to come to the same conclusion as me - a digital piano with decent sample libraries of electric and acoustic pianos is less troublesome than a real electromechanical piano.
Phase 8 gives you some opportunity for physical interaction while not taking up that much space. But for people that wish it was an electromechanical piano, maybe better to just get the piano lol
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Well you can manipulate overtones through the electro magnets. These overtones could be shaped through emp envelopes, playing velocity, or after touch.
The hammer in a Rhodes can only produce a decay type envelope response. The electro magnets can simulate that hammer strike, but also continually and variably feed energy to the tines. Much more potential for sustained sounds, and sounds with various attacks. This could cover polyphonic arpeggiation, or sequencing of the harmonic series per note (e.g.).
The tines can also be excited with various signals, emphasizing or de-emphasize certain harmonics. Audio could be transmitted to the tines also, creating a resonator effect. In conjunction with selective dampening, you could turn any of these instruments into tuned resonators.
Huge potential. I do think this is going to be a stage in acoustic synthesis, but I’m not optimistic that Phase 8 will be the success in this files which leads to a flagship product with the abilities described above.
edit: not sure if I was misunderstanding your second paragraph suggesting a piano. Unless you meant modifying a piano into an electro magnetic piano.
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It was a response to post(s) requesting a larger Phase 8 with a 4-octave keyboard. I’m just suggesting that maybe what those people really want is an electric piano… and if so you don’t have to wait for Korg Berlin to make a bigger Phase 8.
I sympathize with the person who wishes Phase 8 was MIDI-controlled vibraphone. Nice dream indeed. I’d really struggle to find a place for it in my living space even if I could afford what I think it might cost.
I’m interested in the Phase 8 in its current form and I believe you pretty much described why I’d be interested. 
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What I have read is they are targeting a price < $1000 for the Phase 8. Just imagine how eye-wateringly expensive even a 5 octave keyboard version of that would be. And presumably it would still sound like…that. Nothing I’ve heard from the P8 sounds like it would scale up to a multi-octave, fully polyphonic instrument in a melodically pleasing way
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