tiny piano type thing

[Trickyvee]

Date: Around '88-'90
Reminds me of: Rolf Harris Stylophone
Description: Small, pocket-sized electronic thing with a line of buttons like those on a calculator. Each button plays a different note. Sound not unlike the tunes heard in musical greetings cards. Cheaply made pocket money tat.

Can anybody remember these or if they had a name? They were a fad at my school one year.

[Powdered toast man]

Re: tiny piano type thing

I remember these. I had a pencil case that had one built into the lid and it had those rubber buttons laid out like a piano keyboard. Yes it was cheap and when the batteries ran down, it would go out of tune quickly.

[Powdered toast man]

Re: tiny piano type thing

Plus, a few other kids in my class had them and it drove our teacher nuts! They were banned from school eventually

[stud1al]

Re: tiny piano type thing

The teachers were obviously music lovers

[Trickyvee]

Re: tiny piano type thing

I remember these. I had a pencil case that had one built into the lid and it had those rubber buttons laid out like a piano keyboard. Yes it was cheap and when the batteries ran down, it would go out of tune quickly.

Yes the notes went all wobbly when the batteries were on their way out, which was after about a week. They were very annoying.

[Richard1978]

Re: tiny piano type thing

I had one & had similar battery problems.

It might still be somewhere at my parents house but I've got the feeling it was chucked out at one time.

[Heather74]

Re: tiny piano type thing

I had something similar attached to a keyring.

[willpurry]

Re: tiny piano type thing

Probably not the same thing, but this is about a musical calculator.

http://blog.boyet.com/blog/blog/a-mu...r-casio-ml-81/

[Heather74]

Re: tiny piano type thing

I've found a few possibilities here, worth a look http://www.cobolpongide.org/instruments.htm

the casio ML-71,casio VL-10 and the Weddingthon Compute-a-Tune look promising among a few others.

[Trickyvee]

Re: tiny piano type thing

I've found a few possibilities here, worth a look http://www.cobolpongide.org/instruments.htm

the casio ML-71,casio VL-10 and the Weddingthon Compute-a-Tune look promising among a few others.

Just had a quick look and these are similar but too high brow compared to the sort of thing I had. They didn't have a brand name and were definitely 'made in China from down the market' quality, and were similar in size to the musical calculator, if not smaller. IIRC they might have come in a little pouch that flipped open.

[nuttytigger]

I had something like what you are talking about, mine was pink. It was when you mentioned the pouch triggered my memory. No idea what they were called though.

[n3llyo]

Re: tiny piano type thing

we used to get things like this in the cheapo toy/pocket money selections at places like zodiac
something similar is on this link
http://pinterest.com/pin/60235713736042924/

[Powdered toast man]

Re: tiny piano type thing

we used to get things like this in the cheapo toy/pocket money selections at places like zodiac
something similar is on this link
http://pinterest.com/pin/60235713736042924/

I had EXACTLY the same mini piano as this, except mine was blue. Even had that songbook with the animals on the cover! I wish I still had it, but I can try to re-create the sound of it using my Akai synthesizer.

[Richard1978]

Re: tiny piano type thing

I had EXACTLY the same mini piano as this, except mine was blue. Even had that songbook with the animals on the cover! I wish I still had it, but I can try to re-create the sound of it using my Akai synthesizer.

Mine was a yellow version of that with the same picture.

[Trickyvee]

Re: tiny piano type thing

we used to get things like this in the cheapo toy/pocket money selections at places like zodiac
something similar is on this link
http://pinterest.com/pin/60235713736042924/

Nice find n3llyo! I'm pretty sure this is the one I had too. Don't remember having a song book with it but it looks the same. Mine was yellow.