It’s beginning to look a lot like Kraftwerk. December 1, you should be able to look forward to a simulated Stylophone app for iPhone and iPod touch. The Stylophone, for those of you unfamiliar with this classic, was a wonderful late-60s invention and a high-water mark for electronic instrument simplicity. Run a stylus across a simple metal keyboard, get sound. It’s a no-brainer to bring this to Apple mobiles, with their touch and sonic capabilities. And while the Stylophone was used on many, many songs, I anticipate quite a few “Pocket Calculator” covers showing up on YouTube in the days after release. Now we just need a good effects program on the platform, and you can have one person playing Stylophone while someone adjusts effects on their machine.
Lots more pictures here, and yes, they’re pulling out all the stops, with classic, bass, and treble versions:
Incidentally, the Stylophone itself has returned in a remaked form. (You can also buy used originals, which some people prefer – link originally swapped; thanks, Michael Moncur, for the catch.) I’m curious if anyone has used the remakes? I have to admit, fun as the iPhone idea is, I wouldn’t mind holding a replica of the actual object.