British inventor’s musical world

Adam Place (L)

Nan Nan

there_sun@163.com

Adam Place is an inventor, musician and entrepreneur who came to China two years ago with his invention AlphaSphere, a ball-shaped instrument.

Unlike a piano keyboard, the AlphaSphere is a football-shaped instrument with a keyboard on its surface. The first prototype of the instrument was originally created out of coffee cups and an old keyboard while Place was studying music technology at university. The idea attracted interest at his university and he received seed funding from the U.K. government to develop the idea into a prototype.

“AlphaSphere allows people to enjoy and have fun with music without learning how to play an instrument,” said Place, 30. The shape of the AlphaSphere is perfect for beginners to quickly learn how to play music without knowing correct positioning as the music ball is easy to play with and you can change key without changing your hand position, according to Place. Additionally, children and parents can play together after work.

To produce a good product at a competitive price, Place moved to Shenzhen and arranged the manufacturing of AlphaSphere. “Chinese are more open to innovation than Britons,” said Place.

Being a unique company in the industry, Place and his five teammates remain open-minded and keep working hard on their business. They have started to cooperate with schools to set up a music class playing the AlphaSphere. Now they are working on a new music app that can teach people how to make music.