The first models of the new Bristol-designed electronic musical instrument the AlphaSphere Elite have been dispatched to locations all across the world this week.
Developers nu desine have been taking pre-orders since April 2012 based on interest generated by a production prototype demonstrated at a trade fair in March 2012.
Now, as pre-orders started coming in for the revolutionary instrument, the team of young engineers have refined the prototype into a premium instrument which sells at £1,000 through the website.
The AlphaSphere is an electronic musical instrument and controller which reinterprets the way players 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 the pad is tapped –and by applying more pressure the sound can be moulded and manipulated further.
Though a third of the AlphaSphere Elites will stay in the UK, the rest are being shipped to buyers in the US, Europe and Japan. The rapidly-growing company has now initiated full production of the first several hundred units to fulfil a second round of orders.
Nu desine founder Adam Place said: “We were overwhelmed by pre-orders pretty much as soon as we announced the device and had to move quickly in order to satisfy them.
"Just a single prototype was enough to sell the concept to the world, so it’s going to be really interesting to find out what happens when there are a few more out there.”
Among the first Elite musicians is Mercury award-winning composer Talvin Singh, who described the AlphaSphere as “an incredible universe of an instrument which gives you the feeling to tailor-make tones, aesthetically and sonically, as well as allowing you the capacity to invest in more indigenous and rebellious scale systems”.
Talvin, who this year is releasing his first new solo album since the acclaimed OK in 1998, met the team behind the AlphaSphere late last year at their Bristol Harbourside base as part of a user testing program.
The Elite is made entirely in Bristol, though components have been sourced from across the world. However, the company is now transferring production to Hartlepool, where they have found a facility with a greater capacity than its Bristol HQ.
Nu desine is based in the Watershed's Pervasive Media Studio and is also a member of the Bristol SETsquared Centre – a good example of the creative and technology sector in Bristol creating exciting new products, according to centre director Nick Sturge.
He said: “The AlphaSphere has been an exciting project to work with over the past couple of years and we are delighted to see this shipping globally. Most of the companies we work with are 'born global' and this confirms it.”
