Dubreq Stylophone
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The Dubreq Stylophone was a miniature electronic musical instrument invented in 1967 by Brian Jarvis. It consisted of a metal keyboard that was played by touching it with a stylus - each note being connected to a cheap voltage-controlled oscillator via a different-value resistor - thus closing a circuit and creating a sound similar to that of the Bontempi. Some three million Stylophones were sold, mostly as children's toys. Rolf Harris appeared for several years as the Stylophone's advertising spokesman in the United Kingdom.
The Stylophone appears on a few commercial recordings, most notably David Bowie's "Space Oddity" and the commercial rave single "Stylophonia" by Two Little Boys in 1991. Kraftwerk used the Stylophone extensively on their album Computer World. The British duo Erasure also employed it on the single Don't Say Your Love Is Killing Me (from the album Cowboy in 1997). In a lesser-known instance, the Stylophone is used for the bulk of Orbital's single, "Style".
[edit] External links
- Hollow Sun -- Description and samples
- This Might Be a Wiki, "Particle Man (Stylophone Version)" -- A downloadable song in mp3 format by They Might Be Giants that features a Stylophone
- http://www.roth-handle.nu/instruments/oddness_stylophone.html Pictures and films of the Stylophone
- Retrosound-Hobbyton -- Self-built Stylophone by Dr. Böhm
- Retrosound-Stylophone -- Dubreq Stylophone pics and more
