A short history of the Stylophone
The Stylophone is a pocket-sized electronic instrument with a metal keyboard and no moving keys. You touch the keyboard with a pen-shaped stylus that's attached by a wire, and it plays a single buzzing note for as long as you hold it there. It's one of the simplest synthesizers ever sold.
1967: Brian Jarvis and Dubreq
Brian Jarvis invented the Stylophone in 1967, and it went on sale in Britain from 1968, made by his company Dubreq. It had 20 keys etched into a printed circuit board, a built-in speaker, and a vibrato switch. Touching a key with the stylus closed a circuit and told a single oscillator which pitch to play. The original sold for under £9.
A hit toy
Heavy advertising helped the Stylophone sell, and about three million were sold between 1968 and 1975. It came with a songbook of tunes written as key numbers, so a beginner could play a melody on the first day. Besides the standard black-and-white model, Dubreq made a treble version tuned an octave higher and a bass version an octave lower. A larger 350S followed in 1971 with more notes, a wah-wah effect, and two styluses.
On record
The Stylophone also reached professional recordings. David Bowie played one on "Space Oddity" in 1969, and Kraftwerk used one on "Pocket Calculator" in 1981, which ends with a Stylophone solo. Later bands such as Pulp and Orbital used one for its retro charm.
Gone and back
Production of the original ended in 1975. Dubreq returned in the 2000s, and in 2007 it released a new digital model, the S1. Since then there have been many more, including versions with built-in beats and effects, but the plate and stylus remain the heart of it.
Try one in your browser
Llamaphone is a free, independent instrument inspired by the Stylophone. It has the same 20-key layout, numbered the same way, with Bass, Standard, and Treble models and a vibrato switch.