Swedish musician and video blogger Mattias Krantz became the first person in the world to teach his pet octopus to play the piano. He spent several months and hundreds of hours training before his pet, named Tako, played the melody of Baby Shark — although not quite in rhythm. The video of this experiment has already gathered more than six million views, writes The Washington Post.
Mattias Krantz bought the octopus from a Portuguese fish farm, effectively saving the animal from becoming dinner. He named it Takoyaki (after fried octopus meat balls), shortening the nickname to Tako, and promised to make him "the best musician in the sea."
Initially, the octopus settled in a large 400-liter aquarium, where he hid and didn't eat for the first few days. But he quickly got used to it. His first task was to open a glass jar of food â and Tako managed it in three days.
After that, Krantz 3D-printed a key, for touching which the octopus received a treat. Over time, the musician assembled an underwater instrument with 15 keys, but the octopus simply sat on it for a long time, showing no interest.
The musician tried to motivate his pet in various ways: he placed an underwater speaker, applied symbols to the keys, and even glued images of crabs. But movement worked best â when Krantz pulled a fishing line and made the keys sway, Tako started pressing them.
Thus, the octopus learned to play two notes in a row, and then two keys simultaneously. However, progress quickly stalled: Tako began grabbing the instrument, spraying water, and even tried to escape from the aquarium.
A turning point came when Krantz invented a "crab elevator" â a transparent tube with a crab that descended when the octopus pressed the correct key. This sharply increased Tako's motivation: after a few weeks, he was pressing 7-8 keys to get a treat. In August, Krantz began playing guitar chords and simultaneously helping the octopus hit the right notes â creating unique "duets."
Tako was never able to consistently perform melodies â he simply reacted to stimuli, and biologists explain that octopuses do not perceive rhythm and perform actions only for food. But, despite the difficulties, the musician admits that he became very attached to his unusual "student" and kept him as a pet.
The octopus is now about 14 months old, spends most of its time resting, but still "plays" the piano approximately once every two days. Krantz says he still can't believe he's making music with an octopus.
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Comments
Я полагаю,все поняли - о ком речь.
А на пианино играет нынешний руководитель одной соседней страны,не хуже осьминога. Виртуоз!
ён можа шкадаваў, што не трапіў на абедзенны стол... гэта нейкія катаванні