Stylophone Theremin

https://stylophone.com/product/theremin_us/

what do you think? A kind of hybrid between a single antenna, pitch-only theremin, and the venerable stylophone synth.
Looks (and costs) like a toy, but it does have some interesting features like the additional oscillator controlled by the slider, cross modulation between the oscillators, the drone mode, selectable waveform, vibrato, delay etc.
I don't really like the basic tone, it sounds harsh and noisy. I wonder if it's analog, digital or hybrid, and how it behaves with regard to the typical theremin issues (grounding, tuning, scaling etc)
Regardless, for the price it looks like a lot of fun, and something you can carry around for toying and experimenting. 

Stylophone publish
ed a whole youtube playlist of tutorials and several more videos, so it looks like they're pretty serious with this product.

This would be a fun experimental project for a hobbyist in kit form but as a finished project I do not think it is musical enough to win over musicians.

Here is one of the finest theremin performances on an authentic analog theremin . . . not modern day digital.

https://www.oldtemecula.com/+aranjuez.mp3

If this is your own project I suggest not spending more $$$ on it and use that money in the US Stock Market. I do something completely original in organizing stock data for the weekly answer . . . freely shared, nothing to join. 

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Old Temecula

The Stylophone theremin appears to be combination of an analog pitch only theremin and an electrotheremin/Tannerin. The two circuits can play simultaneously and optionally (ring)modulate each other. I read that the housing was designed by the same person who designed the housing of the Moog Theremini, with the look of the EMS VCS3 synthesizer in mind. It probably functions best when properly earthed (connected to a grounded amp or otherwise), or the circuit ground connected to the player via a wrist or ankle strap. That will stabilize the sound and make the tuning easier. Probably a good idea to send it through some effect pedals to tweak the timbre and create more variety of sounds.

The Stylophone theremin appears to be combination of an analog pitch only theremin and an electrotheremin/Tannerin. The two circuits can play simultaneously and optionally (ring)modulate each other. I read that the housing was designed by the same person who designed the housing of the Moog Theremini, with the look of the EMS VCS3 synthesizer in mind. It probably functions best when properly earthed (connected to a grounded amp or otherwise), or the circuit ground connected to the player via a wrist or ankle strap. That will stabilize the sound and make the tuning easier. Probably a good idea to send it through some effect pedals to tweak the timbre and create more variety of sounds.

 Yes, I suppose that the unstable, harsh crackling sound heard in those videos was because the theremin was not properly grounded... I don't think any of those youtubers are thereminists so they really have no idea what they're talking about 

On the other hand, if it needs grounding it means it's a real analog theremin, which is a nice surprise at this price point.
I think it's a nice fun little instrument, the VCS3-style casing is a nice nod to the history of synthesizers.
Given the ridiculously low price, I may get one some day and report back here, if nobody does it before me!

Stylophone theremin explored/played by someone who knows how to play a theremin, 30 minutes after unpacking it:

The electronics of the Stylophone theremin were designed by Jake Rothman who also designed the EPE simple theremin - EPE simple theremin project
and the EPE Elysian Theremin (pitch, volume and MIDI), published in Everyday Practical Electronics 1996 - 11 and Everyday Practical Electronics 1996-12

Jake Rothman was interviewed in the Theremin 30 podcast last December:
Theremin 30 December 2020 - Jake Rothman

The Stylophone theremin housing is by Axel Hartmann Design who designed several Moog, Arturia, Waldorf and other synth and keyboard models' housings, including the Blipbox, and the Moog Theremini.  

very interesting information and interviews, thanks! Now I understand much better how the Stylophone Theremin works, it really is quite a unique instrument. I'm definitely curious to try it, will report back when I get one!

You're welcome, and I agree that being what it is, it's an instrument with it's own character and personality, and can be a nice entry point into the real of themenins. The fact that the theremin side of it is pitch only, while the slider part hat the Ondes Martenot like trigger button can de mitigated with a volume pedal that can be either operated by hand or foot. Lev Termens first incarnation of the instrument was pitch only too, with a foot pedal to control the volume.
One can learn the importance of properly grounding the instrument, and learn how to adjust/tune the pitch field. The limited pitch range (I estimate 1 1/2 - 2 octaves) would be okay for leaning simple melodies and hand/finger positions. If you then find yourself drawn to learn more precise melodic playing over a larger pitch range it will be time to look for an upgrade. For creating outer-worldly sounds and drones, it would work pretty well and offers quite a range of options, which can be expanded with thing like pedals and/or an instrument amp's built in effects.  I'ld love to hear your findings and perhaps even recordings/videos once you got one.