Back in the late 1960s, creating music anywhere was made much easier with a now iconic toy-like pocket synth called the Stylophone. Now Dubreq is aiming to do the same for beat makers with a portable drum machine.
More than half a century ago, parents everywhere instantly regretted treating youngsters to a boxy battery-powered synthesizer called the Stylophone. The simple noise maker soon attracted the attention of professional musicians including David Bowie and Kraftwerk, and went on to sell in the millions before production ended in the mid-1970s.
The nasal tone machine was reborn for the digital age in 2007, and followed soon after by a portable drum machine called the Beatbox that rocked 13 stylus-activated pads for triggering drum, vocal or synth bass sounds. The Stylophone Beat refines and updates the idea.
The battery-powered pocket groove machine comes packing four drum kits – "from classic sounds to real beatbox samples" – that are played by tapping the wired stylus on any of the segments in the circular interface. Dubreq has also cooked in four synth bass sounds.
Beat makers can record, layer and loop patterns, lock in or change tempo, and output creations via the built-in speaker or through headphones via the 3.5-mm audio jack. It's an inexpensive bit of fun, and the lack of connections for external music production gear does suggest that Dubreq isn't expecting folks to want to export grooves – though you could just run a cable from the output jack if desired.
The Stylophone Beat pocket drum machine is up for pre-order now at $39.95. Shipping is estimated to start in the coming weeks. The video below has more.
Product page: Stylophone Beat