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. GG

If I remember correctly, Psychopathic Permutations Part I made pretty heavy use of the Stylophone. BN

In 2008 Ben bought a newly minted Stylophone in HMV, as the company had begun to make something of a comeback. It was added to the growing pile of abject noise-makers at The Hippocampus. Now (in 2026) they have a growing range of experimental synths including a kind-of theremin.