Stylophone

Another very 70s artefact, the Stylophone, as advertised by Rolf Harris, is probably known to most people. A pocket-sized box with a silver foil strip for a keyboard, it was played with a connected metal-tipped stylus (so completing the circuit). It produced a characterless whining tone to which you could add vibrato. In fact, of CA's released music, I think it only features on No Hidden Extras (Video Rideo) -- even we could find only very limited use for it and did far more with the Oscillator. For a brief period I dreamed of the 350S, the bigger, twin-stylus model on which there were various effects and voices, but the Stylophone was emphatically consigned to history by Casio-type keyboards at the beginning of the 80s and in CA's case by the arrival of the Korg. (Gerard)

If I remember correctly, Psychopathic Permutations Part One made pretty heavy use of the Stylophone (Ben)

It seems like the Stylophone is making something of a comeback in 2008. I just bought a newly minted one in HMV yesterday. One more item for the growing pile of abject noise-makers at The Hippocampus. (Ben)