I have a new favorite gadget, for the moment. My coworkers, on the other hand, are not so fond of the thing. As a general rule, I like things that make noise--and once I get one, I can't stop playing with it until a shiny new gadget displaces it in my heart. Just one of the many charming qualities I share with your average five-year-old.
Yesterday I put down the Infinite Bubble Wrap for the first time in a week, thanks to the fine importers at Firebox who sent along a package containing, among other things, British company Re: creation's Stylophone.
The device is a reissue of Dubreq's original pocket synthesizers, which was produced from 1967 to 1975 and made its most prominent pop-cultural appearance in David Bowie's classic "Space Oddity," in 1969. Since then, they've been used on tracks by artists ranging from Kraftwerk to Erasure to Jon Spencer's Blue Explosion to Marilyn Manson; you can also hear them on the new record by They Might be Giants.
Until now, the only way to get your hands on the device was via expensive online auctions or by striking gold at a London-area thrift store. And a the moment, the new version of the Stylophone is available only to gadget fans in the U.K. But importers like Firebox are starting to pick up on the device: Good news for anyone obsessed with vintage synths who doesn't have a lot of cash to burn through.
Re: creation did an admirable job keeping with the vintage theme, both with a casing that matches the original synth and package and a booklet that looks like it fell out of the mid-60s London mod scene.
The synth itself has a metal keyboard with 15 keys that mimics the layout of a standard piano keyboard. Running the attached metal stylus over the keys generates the sound, which can be manipulated with the volume dial, the tuning control on the bottom, a three-octave switch, and optional vibrato, expanding on the sound options available in the original.
The sound is pretty true to that of original analog synths--at least to my untrained ear. With vibrato turned on, it sounds a lot like a theramin. And don't let its compact size fool you. The thing gets loud.
The Stylophone will be available through Firebox starting March 18th, for $29.99.
good point--should have mentioned that in the review--it's mp3 in, so you can play your music (or, perhaps more usefully something like a drum track) through the stylophone's speaker.
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February 15, 2008 2:49 PM
mp3? Is that IN or OUT?
I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry over this. I had one of these when I was .. er ... a little younger. Silly me thought we had moved on :-)
February 15, 2008 2:58 PM
hey steve,
good point--should have mentioned that in the review--it's mp3 in, so you can play your music (or, perhaps more usefully something like a drum track) through the stylophone's speaker.