Stylophone The Original Pocket Electronic Synthesizer | Synth Musical Instrument | Synthesizer Keyboard | Stylophone Instrument Synth

This may be classed as a toy, for which it serves its purpose, but also has a use as a serious musical instrument. I have been playing the piano for about 10 years, which made this very easy to pick up and play with some tunefullness instead of random sliding up and down the keyboard. It also has the great feature of being tuneable. A litte stick sunk into the back can be turned to raise and lower the pitch, enough to allow tuning to the level of any musical instrument. If taken a little seriously this can be a great way to introduce keyboarded instruments to childeren and adults alike although the tone is a little hard on the ears when played a huge amounts. Overall this is certinally a good buy for anyone with a little musical skill or for one who would like to be able to play something.

We were in the music trade when Rolf Harris was promoting these on his excellent show, with bands of schoolkids playing them in concert. Must have sold a hundred of them myself, probably more. And thinking back, we never had one returned. But I've never had one for my own use until today - been - and do you know what, it's great fun! You don't need to read music to play one - there are a couple of tunes in the manual that are spelled out simply in a play-by-numbers fashion. Very easy to pick up, and a great morale booster. But if you wanted to, you could learn to read and perform sheet music on one of these. You just have to work out which note is which on the Stylophone - and since it is laid out like a mini piano, this is easy to do - much easier than (say) a recorder, which is another good first instrument. A simple piano book borrowed from a library would get you started, then you could transcribe sheet music to the Stylophone numbering system - an educational plus for kids there. Failing that, there is a Stylophone Music page at Tumblr dot com, and other Stylophone tunes all over the web. It does not have a large range of notes - one and a half octaves, compared with the two octaves of a recorder. But within that limitation, it does what it says on the tin! The headphone socket is a blessing for others who may not share the performers joy in music, and there is a lead provided that can connect it to recording hardware (MP3 player, eg) or amplification (adding reverb is a good tip). Recommended for kids of all ages - 6 to 96 seems about right. ;)

Fun little gadget. In a few minutes me and my son were exploring it. Managed to play a song based on a YouTube video and there are more songs available (in the number notation) on the official website

Great fun to use good quality had one years ago david Bowie used one for his recording of space oddty very popular in its aday. .

Just as I remember it! A present for my granddaughter.

As a musician it's extremely handy to have a portable keyboard around with which you can quickly tune instruments, or pick out a melody that comes to mind. That's the main reason why I bought this, but it does so much more! The production of sound is pretty consistent, and the unit goes surprisingly loud out of its own speakers! There is a minor 'blip' when transitioning between notes that you don't really notice through the speakers, but you DO notice when playing through the (nevertheless handy) line-out socket. The functionality of plugging in mp3 to play along with is another great touch, and doubles up the unit as a bedside speaker. There are three preset sounds of varying tone and pitch, plus a tuning wheel on the back of the unit that lets you tune the keyboard continuously to any pitch you like within a large range. Turning this when playing, you can produce groovy slides and glissandos! By far my favorite element is the vibrato function, that produces a lovely flowing vibrato similar to the sound of a hammond rotary organ. With this you can replicate riffs like 'kids' by MGMT to almost perfection. I've made it clear that I enjoy using this instrument 'seriously' - while its undoubtedly great fun and would make a fantastic toy for any child, I intend to record with it and use it live. Its a bit quirky and a bit different but the range of sounds and tunes you can get out of it is very impressive.

These are great. These have improved amazingly from when they were first made. The output to an amp is amazing sounds like a big instrument. Great price too.

I bought the Stylophone for one simple reason: to do musical ear training with a small gadget I could take with me anywhere I go. It does this job quite well. What I did not realise is that you cannot play chords because of the nature of the instrument: the stylus is connected to a wire as you can see on the picture, so when you touch the metal keyboard with the metal-tipped stylus a circuit is created which activates the sound-producing circuit. To play a chord you would need a minimum of 2 styli, each connected with a wire. For now, at the outset of my training I need no chords. For later I will probably have to buy a Melodica which is bigger but does not need batteries. Before you use the Stylophone for ear training you should check the pitch which can be adjusted with a knob on the back next to the battery compartment.

Ótimo produto, foi presente e o aniversariante está apaixonado pelo produto.

Lighter than expected but good quality overall

Petit instrument vraiment sympa que j’apprécie beaucoup. J’adore sa sonorité particulière et nasillarde, qui apporte une touche d’originalité. Il se garde facilement sous la main, sur un bureau, pour s’amuser quand on a un moment, mais peut aussi trouver sa place dans une production musicale pour enrichir un morceau. J’en ai même offert un en cadeau, et il a été tout autant apprécié. Une belle petite découverte !

Instrumento muy curioso, hace falta un poco de tiempo para sacar algo más o menos inteligible

Comprato per fare un regalo di compleanno ad un grande appassionato di musica. L'oggetto appare molto bello, seppur un pò leggerino, ma al contempo abbastanza solido e di dimensioni apprezzabili (lo immaginavo più piccolo e sono rimasto piacevolmente sorpreso). Aperto per inserire le pile e provarlo, funziona perfettamente e ha una buona varietà di suoni ed è semplice da usare, nonchè molto versatile, se avete voglia di vedere i vari tutorial presenti in rete. Spero sarà un regalo gradito.. anche se non sono un musicista, a breve, sicuramente, lo acquisterò anche per me!!!