NAMM 2013: Originally launched in 1968 but resurrected a few years ago, the Stylophone is the stylus-played pocket instrument that's found favour with everyone from David Bowie to Brett Domino.
It's a fun little thing, but is generally perceived to be more of a toy than a serious music production tool. However, with the Stylophone S2, it looks like the brand might be about to get serious.
Produced by Dubreq and designed and built in the UK, this retains the original's metal keyboard but pushes it out to three octaves. Inside you'll find a classic British-style 12dB/octave state-variable filter, dual all-transistor voltage controlled oscillators, sub-oscillators that are designed for super-fat bass, and an eight waveform LFO with a 14-octave range.
Connectivity options comprise an auxiliary input so that you can use the filter and envelope generator for other instruments, a 1/4-inch output jack socket, a headphone socket and CV and Trigger input sockets. There's also an internal speaker.
The Stylophone S2 is the brainchild of Ben Jarvis, a product designer who's also the son of the original Stylophone's inventor. He'll be showing the instrument at the 2013 Winter NAMM show in January.
The Stylophone S2 will be priced at £299/$479.
