London: A brand new electronic musical instrument called the AlphaSphere, which was invented by a team of Bristol sound engineers, has been unveiled.
Adam Place came up with the idea at his university after growing bored with conventional keyboards to play synthesized music.
“On a keyboard, the keys are just controllers, they’re not really like notes on a piano,” the BBC quoted Place as saying.
“But with the AlphaSphere, the notes change as you press harder and harder, you really engage with the instrument, and you can perform with it,” he said.
Forty-eight pressure pads are arranged round a sphere, like a large football, and when one pad is pressed the sphere plays a drumbeat. But press a little harder and the beat accelerates.
Another might be programmed with a chord with added harmonics coming in when you press the pad harder.
The Alphasphere may or may not take off with musicians but as a business idea it is already winning approval.
Adam and his friends will be showing off their invention at a garden party in Bristol, which brings hi-tech entrepreneurs and inventors together with investors and big firms.
ANI
First Published: Thursday, July 07, 2011, 19:02