The New Sound Of The Stylophone.
If you are as ancient as I am, you will no doubt remember the huge craze of ‘Stylophone’s in the late seventies and early eighties. Everyone seemed to have one and even David Bowie used it on his ‘Space Oddity’ single. Nowhere in Britain was free of these small, buzzing boxes. And just about every magazine you picked up would have a full page spread with Rolf Harris trying to talk you into buying one.
Well, here we are again. It often seems as though we have gone full circle in the world of gadgetry, doesn’t it?
However, the new ‘Stylophone Beatbox’ is actually a pretty hip piece of equipment to own; it certainly has a lot more street cred than its retro cousin ever did. It all works on exactly the same principle as the original, but without delivering that awful electronic warbling noise. This baby actually has three different sound settings; bass, percussion and real Beatbox sounds. But tapping out a funky beat on one of these channels is only the beginning… With this modern Stylophone it is possible to create different layers of instrumentation. Wow. That is certainly an improvement on its predecessor.
Another nifty feature on this gadget is the ability to connect it to an MP3 player with a standard jack plug connection. Once you have done this, you’ll be able to add your very own beats to any of your favourite choons. How cool is that?
So, the latest Stylophone isn’t just a straightforward re-release, it is a whole re-working of an already successful idea. The makers have taken an iconic design from years gone by and transformed it into a suitably funky bit of kit for a whole new generation.