Type | Musical instrument, toy |
---|---|
Inventor | Brian Jarvis |
Inception | 1967 |
Manufacturer | Dubreq |
Available | Yes |
Models made | S1, S2, Beatbox, Gen X-1, GEN R-8, S1 analog re-issue, Limited Edition Bowie Stylophone, Beat |
Website | https://stylophone.com/ |
The Stylophone is a miniature analog electronic keyboard musical instrument played with a stylus. Invented in 1967 by Brian Jarvis, [1] it entered production in 1968, manufactured by Dubreq.
Some three million Stylophones were sold, mostly as children's toys, but they were occasionally used by professional musicians such as John Lennon, [2] Kraftwerk and David Bowie. [3]
It was relaunched in 2007 by toy company Re:creation in partnership with a rebuilt Dubreq and several new models were released.
The Stylophone consists of a metal keyboard made of printed circuit board and is played by touching it with a stylus. Each note on the keyboard is connected to a voltage-controlled oscillator via a different-value resistor, and touching the stylus to the keyboard thus closes a circuit. The only other controls are a power switch and a vibrato control on the front panel beside the keyboard, and a tuning potentiometer on the rear.
The Stylophone was available in standard, bass and treble variants, but the standard version was the most common. There was also a larger version called the 350S with more notes on the keyboard, various voices, a wah-wah effect that was controlled by moving the hand over a photosensor and two styluses.
In the mid-1970s, a new model appeared that featured simulated wood on the speaker panel and a volume control. However, production of the Stylophone ceased in 1975.
Entertainer Rolf Harris served for several years as the Stylophone's advertising spokesman in the United Kingdom and appeared on many "play-along" records sold by the manufacturer. [2]
In October 2007, 28 years after the Stylophone had ceased production, toy company Re:creation, in conjunction with Dubreq Ltd. (reformed in 2003 by Ben Jarvis, the son of the original inventor), relaunched the Stylophone. The 2007 revival model, manufactured in China and was officially called the S1, is a digital copy that closely resembles the 1960s original but features a volume control, audio throughput and two new sounds. [4]
In December 2012, Dubreq released the Series 2 Stylophone, a limited edition, British-made, true analogue synthesizer. [5]
This model strays from the normal box-shaped Stylophone. It is a mainly round case that has a circular keypad containing 13 contact areas. It offers three sound banks and a tempo control. It also features a basic record/loop function.
In January 2017, Dubreq released details of the Stylophone Gen X-1 portable analogue synthesizer. [6] It was designed and manufactured by Dubreq. [7] The Gen X-1 has additional controls for LFO, analog delay, low-pass filter, and envelope settings. It also includes sub-octave switches, and an input so it can be used as an effects unit [8]
In 2019, Dubreq announced the Gen R-8, a limited edition, full-analogue, metal-cased Stylophone. This version has features seen on more expensive analogue synthesizers and is considerably larger than the standard model. An initial batch of 500 has been released.
In 2020, Dubreq released a replacement for the 2007 S1. The new model is visually similar to its predecessor but has less rounded corners and no auxiliary input. Internally, the digital sampled sounds have been replaced by an analogue oscillator based on a 555 timer IC, and the tone selector offers three octave ranges. The sound is much more similar to that of the 1970s versions.
In 2021, Dubreq launched a limited edition version of the Analog S1 as a tribute to the late David Bowie. This model has an all-white finish, has an official Bowie logo moulded into the chromed grille and includes a colour-printed booklet including photos, interviews and tablature for a selection of Bowie's songs. [9]
In October of 2023, Dubreq released the successor to the Stylophone Beatbox, the Stylophone Beat.
In 2024, Dubreq is promising a Stylophone themed (pitch-only) Theremin.
Kraftwerk are a German electronic band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered innovators and pioneers of electronic music, Kraftwerk were among the first successful acts to popularize the genre. The group began as part of West Germany's experimental krautrock scene in the early 1970s before fully embracing electronic instrumentation, including synthesizers, drum machines, and vocoders. Wolfgang Flür joined the band in 1973 and Karl Bartos in 1975, expanding the band to a quartet. Since the band's formation, it has seen numerous lineup changes, with Hütter as its only constant member.
An analog synthesizer is a synthesizer that uses analog circuits and analog signals to generate sound electronically.
The Minimoog is an analog synthesizer first manufactured by Moog Music between 1970 and 1981. Designed as a more affordable, portable version of the modular Moog synthesizer, it was the first synthesizer sold in retail stores. It was first popular with progressive rock and jazz musicians and found wide use in disco, pop, rock and electronic music.
ARP Instruments, Inc. was a Lexington, Massachusetts manufacturer of electronic musical instruments, founded by Alan Robert Pearlman in 1969. It created a popular and commercially successful range of synthesizers throughout the 1970s before declaring bankruptcy in 1981. The company earned a reputation for producing excellent sounding, innovative instruments and was granted several patents for the technology it developed.
Computer World is the eighth studio album by German electronic band Kraftwerk, released on 11 May 1981. It was accompanied by four singles, including a double A-side UK no. 1 featuring "Computer Love".
Keytar is a keyboard instrument similar to a synthesizer or MIDI controller that is supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders, similar to the way a guitar is held.
The Jupiter-8, or JP-8, is an eight-voice polyphonic analog subtractive synthesizer introduced by Roland Corporation in early 1981.
The Vako Orchestron is a keyboard instrument made in the 1970s, that produces its sound through electronic amplification of sounds pre-recorded on an optical disc. It is the professional version of the Mattel Optigan, an earlier and lower-priced model intended for amateur musicians.
Elektron is a Swedish developer and manufacturer of musical instruments founded in 1998, as well as having its headquarters, R&D and production in Gothenburg, Sweden. They produce mainly electronic musical instruments, but have also made effects units and software. Since 2012, there have been branch offices in Los Angeles and in Tokyo.
The ARP Odyssey is an analog synthesizer introduced by ARP Instruments in 1972.
Doepfer Musikelektronik GmbH is a German manufacturer of audio hardware, mostly synthesizer modules, based in Gräfelfing, Upper Bavaria and founded by Dieter Döpfer. The product range covers analog modular systems, MIDI controllers, MIDI hardware sequencers, MIDI-to-CV/Gate/Sync Interfaces, MIDI master keyboards and special MIDI equipment.
The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer invented by the American engineer Robert Moog in 1964. Moog's company, R. A. Moog Co., produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 2014. It was the first commercial synthesizer and established the analog synthesizer concept.
Arturia is a French electronics company founded in 1999 and based in Grenoble, France. The company designs and manufactures audio interfaces and electronic musical instruments, including software synthesizers, drum machines, analog synthesizers, digital synthesizers, MIDI controllers, sequencers, and mobile apps.
The Prophet-5 is an analog synthesizer manufactured by the American company Sequential. It was designed by Dave Smith and John Bowen in 1977. It was the first polyphonic synthesizer with fully programmable memory.
The Polymoog is a hybrid polyphonic analog synthesizer that was manufactured by Moog Music from 1975 to 1980. The Polymoog was based on divide-down oscillator technology similar to electronic organs and string synthesizers of the time.
A wind controller, sometimes referred to as a wind synthesizer, is an electronic wind instrument. It is usually a MIDI controller associated with one or more music synthesizers. Wind controllers are most commonly played and fingered like a woodwind instrument, usually the saxophone, with the next most common being brass fingering, particularly the trumpet. Models have been produced that play and finger like other acoustic instruments such as the recorder or the tin whistle. The most common form of wind controller uses electronic sensors to convert fingering, breath pressure, bite pressure, finger pressure, and other gesture or action information into control signals that affect musical sounds. The control signals or MIDI messages generated by the wind controller are used to control internal or external devices such as analog synthesizers or MIDI-compatible synthesizers, synth modules, softsynths, sequencers, or even non-instruments such as lighting systems.
A synthesizer is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and frequency modulation synthesis. These sounds may be altered by components such as filters, which cut or boost frequencies; envelopes, which control articulation, or how notes begin and end; and low-frequency oscillators, which modulate parameters such as pitch, volume, or filter characteristics affecting timbre. Synthesizers are typically played with keyboards or controlled by sequencers, software or other instruments and may be synchronized to other equipment via MIDI.
The Prophet '08 is a polyphonic analog synthesizer released by Dave Smith Instruments (DSI) in 2007. As with DSI's other instruments, the Prophet '08 uses analog subtractive synthesis. Similar in functionality to the renowned Sequential Circuits Prophet-5 popularized in the 1970s, the Prophet '08 has an all analog signal path; however its envelopes are generated digitally.
Monotron is the collective name of a series of miniature monophonic analogue synthesisers produced by Korg, a Japanese manufacturer of electronic musical instruments. There are three models in the series: the original Monotron, the Monotron Duo and the Monotron Delay. The models share a minimalist set of synthesis components, consisting only of a voltage-controlled oscillator, voltage-controlled filter, a voltage-controlled amplifier and a low-frequency oscillator.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)