In what is perhaps the most unorthodox tribute to Eddie Van Halen yet, a YouTuber has decided to cover ‘Eruption’ using a stylophone.
The death of legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen is resulted in an outpouring of grief and tributes from the music community.
Van Halen’s passing has also resulted in a wild uptick of tributes, many of which involve covers of his iconic instrumental track ‘Eruption’.
But one YouTuber took things to the next level by covering ‘Eruption’ on a stylophone rather than a guitar.
Now before we dive into the cover itself, you may be wondering ‘what the hell is a stylophone?” Well I’m glad you asked because I too had no clue until just now.
So a stylophone is a small analogue keyboard that’s operated by stylus that was invented in the ’60s and sold as a children’s toy rather than a serious instrument.
Having said that, the stylophone did leave a mark in some notable recordings, perhaps most famously in David Bowie’s ‘Space Oddity’.
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Okay, history lesson over, it’s back to the ‘Eruption’ cover.
YouTuber maromaro1337 posted their ‘Eruption’ cover in tribute to Eddie Van Halen, writing how they did this as a tribute to one of their “guitar idols” rather than any form of mockery.
“I know that some of you may think that I’m doing a lame parody of this song or poking fun at Eddie… But no, actually I’m heartbroken because one of my guitar idols is dead. I did this because nobody else would do it on this instrument and I think that it’s somewhat a breakthrough to play this piece on the Stylophone,” wrote the YouTuber in the video’s description.
“I know that the last parts are a bit sloppy but seriously it couldn’t be done better… So, sorry for some mistakes here and there, have fun watching my tribute to one of the greatest guitar players on the planet.
“P.S., I know that it’s probably one of the weirdest tributes to a guitar master but what can I do?
“It’s cut into three parts because I had to tune the Stylophones differently for every part of this solo.”
If this all sounds wild, then be in for a bit of a surprise because nothing can quite prepare you for what ‘Eruption’ sounds like when played on two stylophones.
Rather than try to describe what it sounds like (think ‘Eruption’ if it were made with 8-bit video game noises), just listen to the cover yourself and be amazed.
Check out this YouTuber’s stylophone cover of ‘Eruption’ by Eddie Van Halen:
