Dubreq gets busy: New (x2), Newer, Newest

Dubreq, Ltd., the company behind the Stylophone brand, has been super busy of late. In recent weeks they have shipped two products that were announced about a year ago. They have put out another new product with very little advanced notice. And this week they have announced the sound shaper of things to come. Here's a quick overview:

NEW 

In late 2024, the UK-based company started delivering the long-awaited Stylophone Theremin that it first teased a year ago at Winter NAMM Show 2024. The entry-level noisemaker combines a pitch-only theremin with a simple slider-pot-controlled synthesizer. The theremin half of the instrument works fairly well, considering its low price. It makes for a nice intro to the instrument category for music makers who want to experiment with the antenna-controlled device but don't want to invest hundreds of dollars more for a more serious, professional-quality, instrument. The synthesizer half of the Stylophone Theremin works much like an Electro-theremin or Tannerin, and is somewhat reminiscent of an Ondes Martenot. The slider is easier to play with some degree of accuracy than the theremin, and the sound is more stable and pure. However, the two sides of the instrument can modulate each other if noise is your thing. I purchased a Stylophone Theremin and I have enjoyed messing around with it, but it will probably not be my go-to theremin when I want to record or perform live. (Just like I wouldn't use a basic model Stylophone keyboard in place of Hammond organ.) The slider synth, though, could come in handy for more precision playing.

I recently featured an interview with Jake Rothman on my Theremin 30 podcast. Jake designed the prototype units of the Stylophone Theremin.

ALSO NEW

Also, in recent days, Dubreq began shipping the DS-2 Analog Drone Synth, its first compact portable modular synthesizer. Like the Stylophone Theremin, the DS-2 was announced in conjunction with the Winter NAMM show last year. The DS-2 is packed with oscillators, sub-oscillators, LFOs, and other analog controls for a rich, keyboardless drones. I haven't purchased the DS-2, but I look forward to hearing what creative musicians will do with it.

NEWER

At the end of 2024, Dubreq released the Stylosette Keys keyboard with little fanfare. Unlike its flagship product line, the Stylosette Keys instrument doesn't employ a stylus. The touch-sensitive keyboard is built into a circuit board designed to resemble an old-school compact cassette audio tape. (Remember those?) It shares some similarities with the Open Music Labs Mixtape Alpha synthesizer (2012) and the MicroKits Synth-A-Sette (2023). Like both, the Stylosette Keys fits neatly in an audio cassette case and uses touch surfaces instead of physical keys. And like the Synth-A-Sette, it includes jumper cables that can be connected to conductive objects, making them substitutes for the touch keys on the built-in keyboard. Built-in features include variable-speed vibrato, octave shift, adjustable delay, volume control, a tiny speaker, and a headphone jack.

NEWEST

Finally, in time for Winter NAMM Show 2025, Dubreq has announced the second entry in its compact portable modular series, the DF-8 Analog Dynamic Multifilter. In the same form factor as the DS-2 synth, this new unit provides multiple envelopes, filters, and noise sources. Also like the DS-2, it can be used as a portable tabletop device or installed in a Eurorack environment. Dubreq is building a waiting list that does not require a deposit. The delivery date is unknown, but I expect it to be in the second half of this year, based on how long it took for the DS-2 to reach the market.