The Stylophone - Cheap SynthesizerThe Stylophone is one of the earliest consumer electronic instruments; is a little thin on features. Besides the two volume settings of... er... "on" and "off", the pictured model also features a "vibrato" switch. Other effects were suggested by the helpful leaflet of directions, including such nuances as cupping your hand over the internal speaker to change the sound.
That's pretty much it, but it was enough to get serious artists like
David Bowie and Kraftwerk to use it in several famous compositions of the 1970's. The little beeps may seem unimpressive, but once you slide the stylus into a nice beepy glissando, you'll see what all the fuss is about.
The official site still selling StylophonesVery nice history of the Stylophone