79Ancestors, the cross-disciplinary record label co-founded by EFFIXX in early 2016, had ambitions to launch with a new product similar to the handheld LED projector developed for the Deru 1979 project—an object which would play an album through a built-in speaker, and a visual display-based component.  For our first artist signing, A.M. Architect, we used what we learned while creating the Deru projector to invent something wholly original from scratch, but aimed to introduce the ability for users to somehow interact and influence the content.

The Spectrasphere hosts a 10-song album and a series of video patterns which are visually modulated by user-controlled analog FX via 4 rotary knobs, gives viewers the ability to flip through songs, and introduces a unique hemispherical magnifying lens display.  We knew that in order to customize the experience beyond simple linear videos, an element of randomness would be required. So we introduced custom-built analog glitch circuitry to the video chain, much like a guitarist uses effects pedals before the signal is routed through an amplifier.  The way that textures from the lo-fi video are warped and glitched, viewed through the magnifed display, create a mesmerizing personal connection to the music— an A.M. Architect concept album about a “chromatherapy cult”. These unique aspects of the product make it the most beautiful artifact we’ve worked on to date.