Stylophone VST Manual

Welcome to Stylophone VST

Congratulations! You now have in your possession a virtual recreation of a milestone in electronic music history. Stylophone VST simulates very closely an instrument made & marketed by an English company called Dübreq during the 1960's\70's, the Stylophone.

Dübreq was founded in 1967 by three British workmates: Brian Jarvis (inventor of the Stylophone), Burt Coleman (MD), and Burt's brother Ted (artwork and finances). They worked in the Broadcast / Film industry in the particular area of DUBing and RECording of film sound tracks (düb-req), funky huh?

During it's production lifetime approximately 4 million units were sold in the UK alone and several variations existed hailing from two main designs, the "Classic" model (below) & the 350s. Stylophone VST is based on the original Stylophone Classic model which comprised of a metal 'keyboard', a stylus to play the notes, vibrato & on\off switches plus a line out socket, all of which were cased in a groovy sixties style pocket size case. There was also a spindle underneath the unit for fine tuning. The Classic Stylophone was a monophonic instrument with one sound, not allowing for the vibrato option. We give you that sound with up to 8 instruments available at the same time, all under MIDI control.

Despite it's seeming limitations, many artists have used & abused the Stylophone. Such luminaries as Kraftwerk (Pocket Calculator), David Bowie, Orbital & Pulp have utilised the device in their work, keyboardist Rick Wakeman has even played six stylophones at the same time! The most famous musical example is probably to be found in David Bowie's "Space Odyssey" track (just before Mick Ronsons' great guitar solo). Now the Stylophone sound can be given a new lease of life within the Steinberg VST environment, opening up new possibilities for the beast.

The Stylophones' most famous association was, and still is, the great Rolf Harris. Rolf's prolific career has encompassed his art (he's no slouch with ANY kind of brush), chart success (Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Waltzing Matilda) including a number one hit in the UK (Two Little Boys), his songwriting & is a successful TV personality\presenter. Rolf is a proficient didgeridoo player being rarely seen without his trademark "Wobble Board" and has had chart success in recent years with a cover of the Led Zeppelin epic "Stairway To Heaven". Rolfs' talents & humour are an integral part of the Stylophone story, he is still to be seen weekly on British TV screens.

With the help of nationwide TV coverage the Stylophone became very popular, originally only available by mail order at 8.5 guineas or 8 pounds ,18 shillings and 6 pence which is £8.92 in today's UK currency. Dübreq licensed the Stylophone to America, Germany and France, as well as a version emanating from Hong Kong after a legal battle over the 'Wok Organ'. The company ceased manufacture of the Stylophone in 1977 and was wound up in 1980. The original prototype Stylophone still exists after all these years.

Stylophone VST Installation

Requirements:

1) A VST 2 enabled host such as Steinberg Cubase VST.

2) A suitably specified computer (PC only).

3) The attitude of a true Stylophonist to wrench the soul out of the instrument.

To install Stylophone VST proceed as follows. Copy the file Stylophone.dll into your Vstplugins directory & Stylophone.dat into your windows directory. Stylophone VST will now be available in your VST Instruments list.

Notes: The original Stylophone had a 20 note 'keyboard' and so does Stylophone VST. MIDI notes outside the range A1-E3 will be transposed to their nearest equivalent. The Stylophone was not a velocity sensitive instrument, Stylophone VST however is and will respond to MIDI velocity data, all other controllers are ignored.

For more information on the use of VST Instruments, refer to your application's documentation.

Stylophone VST is RolfWare. (See conditions of use)

You can download Stylophone VST and other goodies from : http://www.sparque.co.uk

Please address comments about Stylophone VST to :mailto:stylophone@sparque.com

For more information on the Stylophone visit Mark Campbells' site: http://www.stylophone.freeserve.co.uk

Much of the information provided in this document was provided by Mark Campbell.

Conditions of use: Stylophone VST has been thoroughly tested and is believed to be free from erroneous or defective coding. However, it's owners accept no responsibility for any claimed subsequent loss of data and\or system integrity and will not be held responsible for any damages caused by it's use. Stylophone VST and all accompanying documentation is RolfWare, it is a gift & freely distributable. No profit shall be made for it's distribution without prior consent from it's owners.

VST PlugIn Interface Technology by Steinberg Soft- und Hardware GmbH.