Stylophone Theremin
The year is 2014 - and 2024. Musicians have always strived for an instrument that is so easy to use that you don't have to learn practically anything. Especially in pandemic times, it would also be desirable if you didn't even have to touch anything. And this is where the theremin comes in. Invented over 100 years ago by the physicist Leon Theremin. Brought to fruition in the mid-1950s by physicist Dr Robert Moog (yes - the very inventor of the synthesiser). And shaped twice here in Ravensburg / Germany by our tireless Hartmann Design Team.
You can already find information about the Moog Theremini in our timeline. .
Today, however, we're talking about the recently released Stylophone Theremin, for which we were allowed to go looking for a shape again, exactly 10 years later. With its console structure, the Stylophone Theremin is a completely opposite interpretation of the same thing in principle. It manages with just one telescopic aerial.
Like the Theremini, the housing consists of two plastic shells. The control panel is bent from one sheet of metal, the product graphics are single-coloured and applied via silk-screen printing. On the side is a small outboard with a volume control typical of Stylophone, which can also be used to switch the instrument on and off. The controls are positioned at an optimum operating angle for the user. In front is the innovative tone slider, which allows the player to change the pitch of the Theremin smoothly and visually supported by a sketched keyboard. This still sounds very much like a theremin, but is even easier to play and is also tremendous fun.
The appearance of the Stylophone Theremin cannot deny a certain Eastern Bloc aesthetic. In addition to an architecturally monolithic shape, the choice of colours and materials gives the instrument a Stylophone look and feel that is clearly rooted in the 1950s and 1960s. The Stylophone Theremin stands defiantly, sturdily and humorously in front of you. The sober engineering design exudes a joyful naivety that clearly invites everyone to play.
Thank you, John Simpson (head and mastermind of the current Stylophone product lines) for sending us off with this wonderful design assignment!