AlphaSphere is an electronic musical instrument that was designed and developed by British company, nu desine. The AlphaSphere is said to increase the level of expression available to electronic musicians e.g. dynamic range.[1] by allowing for the playing style of a musical instrument. Even before the product had been fully developed it had appeared at many events worldwide including the NAMM Show, Musikmesse, TEDx conferences, and the Future Everything Festival[2] and received press from popular organizations such as Sound on Sound, BBC, Wired and MusicRadar.[3] There are currently two different AlphaSphere models - the Nexus and elite series.
The initial concept of AlphaSphere was conceived while company founder Adam Place was studying at the Nagoya University of Arts in Japan, where he produced an initial prototype.[4] In September 2010, Adam was commissioned by Media Sandbox, a development funding scheme which is part of Bristol's Watershed subsidiary iShed, to further develop his concept by researching into smart materials.[5] This spawned the birth of nu desine which soon developed into a team that specializes in music technology, electronics engineering, product design, software development and user interface design.[6]
In April 2012, nu desine announced that they had started taking pre-orders for a limited edition elite series AlphaSphere,[7] with the first batch of elite AlphaSphere's being shipped in March 2013.[8] In July 2013, nu desine announced the nexus series,[9] the standard version of the AlphaSphere. This was shortly followed by the instrument being available in musical instrument retail stores in both the United States and Japan, and then in November 2013 it became available to UK and Europe through the AlphaSphere website.[10]
The nexus series is the standard AlphaSphere model. Characteristics of this model are:
An ergonomic and modular spherical design.
48 tactile, elasticated pads that respond to touch, velocity, and pressure. The pressure sensitivity allows for real-time modulation of audio parameters of each played note/sound individually.
USB connectivity and power which communicates with software via the HID and MIDI protocols.
As a MIDI instrument the AlphaSphere is fully compatible with polyphonic aftertouch and multichannel MIDI.
Custom software called AlphaLive that can be used as the device's MIDI mapping editor, and also has its own sampler and sequencer capabilities, as well as allowing MIDI messages to be converted to OSC. Both the software and the firmware are open source.
Infinitely programmable. Though there are a number of suggested notational arrangements, there is no set note or function for each pad - note layouts and scales can be set over the pads as desired as well the mode of each pad and the parameters that the pressure modulates. This also lends itself to be useful for alternative notational layouts, such as the Harmonic table and Wicki-Hayden note layouts that are well suited to the Hexagonal lattice pad layout.
Limited Edition Elite Modeledit
The elite series is the high-end AlphaSphere model. It comes with all the features of the AlphaSphere nexus, plus the following extra features:
^. Clare Reddington. Archived from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
^"About nu desine". nu desine. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
^"Pre-order AlphaSphere elite series". nu desine. Archived from the original on 2013-04-10. Retrieved 2012-05-04.
^"elite series ships". nu desine. Archived from the original on 2013-04-10. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
^"AlphaSphere nexus – addition to product line". nu desine. Retrieved 2013-11-08.
^"AlphaSphere nexus hits Europe". nu desine. Retrieved 2012-11-21.
^. nu desine. Archived from the original on 2013-06-20. Retrieved 2012-11-21.
External linksedit
Official website
Music Radar - Introducing the AlphaSphere
AlphaSphere on BBC News
April 12, 2024
alphasphere, instrument, this, article, multiple, issues, please, help, improve, discuss, these, issues, talk, page, learn, when, remove, these, template, messages, topic, this, article, meet, wikipedia, notability, guidelines, products, services, please, help. This article has multiple issues Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page Learn how and when to remove these template messages The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia s notability guidelines for products and services Please help to demonstrate the notability of the topic by citing reliable secondary sources that are independent of the topic and provide significant coverage of it beyond a mere trivial mention If notability cannot be shown the article is likely to be merged redirected or deleted Find sources AlphaSphere instrument news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia s content policies particularly neutral point of view Please discuss further on the talk page March 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article contains wording that promotes the subject in a subjective manner without imparting real information Please remove or replace such wording and instead of making proclamations about a subject s importance use facts and attribution to demonstrate that importance March 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message This article contains content that is written like an advertisement Please help improve it by removing promotional content and inappropriate external links and by adding encyclopedic content written from a neutral point of view December 2018 Learn how and when to remove this template message Learn how and when to remove this template message AlphaSphere is an electronic musical instrument that was designed and developed by British company nu desine The AlphaSphere is said to increase the level of expression available to electronic musicians e g dynamic range 1 by allowing for the playing style of a musical instrument Even before the product had been fully developed it had appeared at many events worldwide including the NAMM Show Musikmesse TEDx conferences and the Future Everything Festival 2 and received press from popular organizations such as Sound on Sound BBC Wired and MusicRadar 3 There are currently two different AlphaSphere models the Nexus and elite series Contents 1 History 2 Features 2 1 Limited Edition Elite Model 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksHistory editThe initial concept of AlphaSphere was conceived while company founder Adam Place was studying at the Nagoya University of Arts in Japan where he produced an initial prototype 4 In September 2010 Adam was commissioned by Media Sandbox a development funding scheme which is part of Bristol s Watershed subsidiary iShed to further develop his concept by researching into smart materials 5 This spawned the birth of nu desine which soon developed into a team that specializes in music technology electronics engineering product design software development and user interface design 6 In April 2012 nu desine announced that they had started taking pre orders for a limited edition elite series AlphaSphere 7 with the first batch of elite AlphaSphere s being shipped in March 2013 8 In July 2013 nu desine announced the nexus series 9 the standard version of the AlphaSphere This was shortly followed by the instrument being available in musical instrument retail stores in both the United States and Japan and then in November 2013 it became available to UK and Europe through the AlphaSphere website 10 Talvin Singh and Enter Shikari use the AlphaSphere 11 Features editThe nexus series is the standard AlphaSphere model Characteristics of this model are An ergonomic and modular spherical design 48 tactile elasticated pads that respond to touch velocity and pressure The pressure sensitivity allows for real time modulation of audio parameters of each played note sound individually USB connectivity and power which communicates with software via the HID and MIDI protocols LEDs that react to touch and pressure input As a MIDI instrument the AlphaSphere is fully compatible with polyphonic aftertouch and multichannel MIDI Custom software called AlphaLive that can be used as the device s MIDI mapping editor and also has its own sampler and sequencer capabilities as well as allowing MIDI messages to be converted to OSC Both the software and the firmware are open source Infinitely programmable Though there are a number of suggested notational arrangements there is no set note or function for each pad note layouts and scales can be set over the pads as desired as well the mode of each pad and the parameters that the pressure modulates This also lends itself to be useful for alternative notational layouts such as the Harmonic table and Wicki Hayden note layouts that are well suited to the Hexagonal lattice pad layout Limited Edition Elite Model edit The elite series is the high end AlphaSphere model It comes with all the features of the AlphaSphere nexus plus the following extra features Hardware MIDI out port Two freely assignable dials Three freely assignable buttons High end soft touch finish Available in blackSee also editList of musical instruments Electronic instrumentsReferences edit New Instrument Aims To Put Performance Back Into Electronic Music Tonall Archived from the original on 2012 03 28 Retrieved 2011 08 08 nu desine Events nu desine Archived from the original on 2012 03 28 Retrieved 2012 05 04 AlphaSphere Press nu desine Archived from the original on 2012 06 25 Retrieved 2012 05 04 AlphaSphere Futuristic Musical Instrument TokyoTek Retrieved 2012 05 13 DCMS Bristol the UK s answer to Silicon Valley Clare Reddington Archived from the original on 6 July 2011 Retrieved 2011 08 08 About nu desine nu desine Retrieved 2011 08 08 Pre order AlphaSphere elite series nu desine Archived from the original on 2013 04 10 Retrieved 2012 05 04 elite series ships nu desine Archived from the original on 2013 04 10 Retrieved 2013 03 16 AlphaSphere nexus addition to product line nu desine Retrieved 2013 11 08 AlphaSphere nexus hits Europe nu desine Retrieved 2012 11 21 AlphaSphere Artists nu desine Archived from the original on 2013 06 20 Retrieved 2012 11 21 External links editOfficial website Music Radar Introducing the AlphaSphere AlphaSphere on BBC News Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title AlphaSphere instrument amp oldid 1185709835, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
