Change the way you play
Intuitive programmable software
A musical instrument for now
Preorder yours now
AlphaSphere is a brand new musical instrument which has been designed for electronic music. The AlphaSphere allows you to be expressive with music through a series of tactile pressure sensitive pads. Load the Sphere with your own sounds, or connect to your existing digital audio workstation (DAW) with the intuitive software. Get hands on with electronic music and create your new sound. Change the way you play.
AlphaSphere is a product by award-winning company nu desine, a team of musicians, engineers, and developers based in Bristol, UK. Founded in 2010 and committed to being at the front line of the new music revolution.
• 48 pressure sensitive pads
• Tap to trigger, or apply pressure to manipulate sound
• Responsive LED lighting
• USB connectivity
• Robust and ergonomic shape
• Multichannel, Polyphonic Aftertouch MIDI
• Trigger, loop, and manipulate audio files
• Innovative audio/MIDI sequencer feature
• Intuitively and infinitely programmable
• OSC compatible
We are now taking orders for a very limited edition pre-release run. Be one of the first people on the planet to get your hands on AlphaSphere. Visit our pre order page and register to get in line for one of these exclusive models.
The AlphaSphere is a new electronic musical instrument and controller which reinterprets the way we interact with sound. Its distinct design is made up of 48 pressure sensitive pads which form a self-supporting spherical structure. Sound is triggered when you tap the pad, apply more pressure and you can start to mould and manipulate the sound further. Apply parameters to the pad-depth such as pitch-bend, volume, oscillations and interesting filters to make your music truely expressive.
A beautifully executed concept. It’s a world away from the baffling inputs and settings of many synths and drum machines.”
- Ben Beaumont-Thomas
AlphaLive, the software provided, makes loading up the AlphaSphere with your sounds an intuitive experience, or use it to interface with your own Digital Audio Workstation.
Bringing together the realms of traditional instruments and computer produced music, the AlphaSphere is built to be an instrument you can play. The unique shape and integration with responsive LED lighting open up the experience of electronic music.
By itself the AlphaSphere is a controller which communicates to a computer or synthesizer via USB. Though it has the ability to send MIDI messages, it is not strictly a MIDI controller and is more programmable than a standard MIDI controller. Crucially the AlphaSphere offers full polyphonic aftertouch compatibility as standard, each of the pressure sensitive pads affecting the sound individually. The form itself is conceived as a departure from the western tradition of music, incorporating both the modern advances in music technology, and advances in the way we understand music. The combination of tactile pads in a playable form unlocks a new experience of music making, a synergy of form and function, add a player and we have a brand new musical instrument.
Combining cutting edge design with high-quality engineering, the AlphaSphere is a world apart from any other instrument or controller. The self-supporting spherical structure creates an intriguing and robust build which is a natural shape for interaction. The matrix of circles wrapped and tessellated around the sphere create a balance of design complexity and simplicity enhanced by the simulated depth effect of the supporting structure. The spherical form has always represented the limitless and the infinite and we hope that these characteristics of the design also inspires our users to creatively explore and develop the boundaries of musical expression.
Connects to your computer via a USB lead which also powers the instrument.
26cm x 26cm x 32cm. Weight approx 2.5kg.
Play the AlphaSphere percussively or apply more pressure to unlock another dimension of sound control. The elastic surface provides a haptic feedback that allows you to sculpt and affect the sound, adding a new element to your compositions, productions and performances. While the keyboard has offered a solution for electronic music so far, keys were designed for the mechanism of a piano, felt hammers on steel strings. The AlphaSphere is conceived and designed for electronic music production, composition and performance.
An integrated colour changing lighting system responds when you strike or massage the individual pads. Cycle through colours, from blue to green to red, as you apply more pressure to individual pads, or play multiple pads at the same time. Program your own functions for the LEDs. The AlphaSphere firmware is open source, and will be shared online, allowing you to customise the inner workings of the sphere. Conceive your own original applications for the interaction of light and sound.
Consisting of 6 rows of 8 pads, the layout unlocks the potential for you to explore a whole world of new notational structures. Four chromatic scales can be entwined around the sphere or individual scales could be mapped around each row. The possibilities are endless. For example, a major scale wrapped around one row will produce a perfect fifth by playing pads exactly opposite to each other, creating a simple logic through geometry. Be original with the spherical form, invent a new musical language.
AlphaLive™ has been designed and developed to allow you complete creative freedom, without software restrictions and in the most intuitive environment possible. You can mix and match modes and settings across the pads for completely custom layouts of functionality. AlphaLive™ is fully open-source and released under the GNU General Public License version 2.0. The software is constantly evolving here in terms of integrating new features and improving its performance and usability, but we encourage our users to get involved with their own hacks and collaborations.
Mac Intel machine running OS X 10.6 or later
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.26 GHz or above
1 GB RAM or above
50 MB of free HD space
Windows and Linux system requirements to be confirmed
Third party Digital Audio Workstation, MIDI Sequencer, or MIDI instrument software recommended
MIDI mode enables the AlphaSphere to act as a multichannel, polyphonic aftertouch MIDI instrument/controller that can connect to your DAWs, MIDI sequencers, and software instruments. Each pad triggers MIDI note messages as well as continuous MIDI data that is triggered by the pads pressure; by default this is set to polyphonic aftertouch but can be set to other types of continuous MIDI data. MIDI notes can be mapped to the pads individually, or mapped as scales and layouts over groups of pads.
Looper Mode enables the AlphaSphere to trigger, loop, and manipulate audio files. Each pad can be given its own audio sample as well as an audio effect whose parameters can be controlled in realtime using the pads pressure. A set of ‘Playstates’ is provided that determine how interaction with a pad controls the playback and manipulation of its audio file. In looper mode pads can be grouped into ‘Exclusive Channels’ allowing the playback of an audio sample to automatically stop the previously active sample of the same channel.
Sequencer Mode enables the AlphaSphere to act as a Progressive Sequencer™. Using a 32-step step-sequencer up to 8 sequences can be programmed for each pad, which can then be switched-between on-the-fly using the pads pressure allowing new patterns to be generated. Sequencers can trigger audio files, and there is a built-in drum bank of sounds available to use. Sequencers can also trigger MIDI notes, which can be applied individually or in the form of scales. Sequencers also come with an extended set of Playstates.
Pads can be set to send out Open Sound Control messages with dedicated IP addresses and port numbers, allowing multiple devices/sources on a network to be controlled by the AlphaSphere. AlphaLive also contains a global ‘Dual-Output’ mode that enables each pad to create OSC messages simultaneously to their audio and MIDI functionalities.These features are perfect for communicating with OSC-enabled software such as Max/MSP, Pure Data, and Processing.
Projects can be saved to a directory along with copies of any included audio files, allowing projects to be seamlessly transferred between and edited on different computers. Each project can contain up to 20 presets that each contain their own set of settings for the entire set of pads. Presets can be switched-between by the touch of a pad without interrupting any audio, enabling simple and seamless accessibility of new sounds and functionality when using the AlphaSphere for performances.
Each pad within the interface changes it’s appearance depending on its current state and activity. Each pad displays its current mode, when it is being pressed along with its pressure value, as well as its playing status when set to Looper or Sequencer mode.
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