1997

The Bomb

The first speakers in this line were developed as a part of Perry Cook and Dan Trueman’s N-Body project at Princeton University, which studied the emanation of sound in different directions from a variety of musical instruments. The first working models included the full-sphere “Bomb” and the “Boulder”. A slightly later version of a performance rig included “R2”, a spherical speaker built from Ikea salad bowls.

The Boulder

R2

1997-1999

Critter

After several permutations, the first generation of performance-ready spherical speakers was built. A dodecahedron (12-sided) cabinet was designed by Dr. T. Laurence Trueman and Dan Trueman, and several instruments were developed from it, including Dan Trueman’s “critter” speaker, and Curtis Bahn’s large “Bubba” speaker. These were integrated into Trueman’s Bowed Sensor-Speaker Array (BoSSA) and Bahn’s Sensor Bass R!g, respectively.

Bubba

1999

2nd Generation

The second generation of spheres featured truly spherical cabinets. These were designed and fabricated by Universal Enclosures, and solved many problems of construction. However, this design proved to be problematic in other regards, such as the difficulty of mounting speakers tightly to a curved surface.

2002

Returning to the Trueman design for inspiration, hemispherical speakers were developed which could be fastened together into a sphere or used as separates. A major project was undertaken at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute under the guidance of Professor Curtis Bahn and graduate student Stephan Moore to build a large quantity of these speakers. In all, fifty-five third generation hemispheres were built in the first eight months of the year.

3rd Generation

2003-2005

Today’s Hemisphere

The new Hemisphere develops somewhat of a cult following, with a multitude of musicians, artists, and composers using Hemispheres in their performances and installations. Stephan Moore takes over the project of manufacturing new hemispherical speakers, and master furniture maker Ken Malz is enlisted to build the speakers. Malz and Moore make several incremental improvements to the design, including larger high-quality speaker drivers, rounded edges, and a durable powder coating finish.

2006

Electrotap begins to sell Hemispheres, bringing the revolution to the people! Electrotap has both a Frequently Asked Questions and Purchasing Information for the Hemisphere.