Stylophone

This page is a tutorial for making a stylophone using a Makerspace stylophone kit. A stylophone is an analog electronic instrument invented in 1967 by Brian Jarvis. It is similar to an electronic keyboard but a stylus is used to “press” the keys rather than the keys being physically pressed. When a key is “pressed” a circuit is completed that results in a note being played.

Electronic projects can seem intimidating especially if your new to them, but do not worry you can do it! There are details in this tutorial that I have included for people familiar with electronics, but it is doable to make a stylophone without understanding them. The big picture to focus on is that the goal is to put electronic components onto a printed circuit board (PCB) to create the circuitry for the stylophone. The PCB is just a piece of

-put image of PCB here

is that this a soldering project.

Soldering, in this context, is melting metal to put

The Makerspace stylophone circuit is composed of three primary parts: resistor ladder, voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), and an audio amplifying circuit. The resistor ladder is responsible for setting the note that each "key" plays and is composed of 13 resistors in series. The

Materials

you will make is an electronic circuit primarily composed of three types of analog electrical components: resistors, capacitors, and op-amps.