OUR STORY
SONOSPHERE 1.0- First Prototype 2002
The first prototype of the Sonosphere was invented in 2002 at Western Washington University by Louisa (McCuskey) Firethorne as her senior thesis project at Fairhaven College.
In 2004, the original Sonosphere was stationed at Wise Awakening in Bellingham, Wa.- a metaphysical Sound Healing temple, founded by Diana La Due Hand. Louisa offered the Sonosphere to the public through sessions with a metaphysical flair and a focus on inducing trance states and meditation environment for personal healing. From 2007-2011 the revised Sonosphere 1.0 traveled as an installation at retreat centers, festivals and events. The original Sonosphere went through many rounds of revisions from rustic and artsy to more 'gallery' style, and evolved based on user feedback.
After trying the original Sonosphere 1.0, at Skagit Valley Community College showcase gallery in 2002, our local and world renowned author, Tom Robbins, had this to say about his Sonosphere experience:
"Louisa, you are the flesh-bound instrument of cosmic love jammer; a basket weaver whose strands are the energy skeins of the universe itself, a scientist who knows that the Universe is made of magic. Bravo!"
- Tom Robbins
SONOSPHERE 2.0- Installed in England 2009
The second major rebuild and revision to the Sonosphere was commissioned by a private client in England in 2009. The commission was to take the Sonosphere 1.0 to the next level and ship it to a private residence in the UK for use in Sound Healing. This 'angel investor' allowed Louisa to hire fabricators and re-envision how the Sonosphere should look and feel. Louisa hired Rusty Oliver of Hazard Factory in Seattle, Wa to help with constructing the Sonosphere 2.0.
The biggest changes were the internally controlled motor, larger copper sphere, circular platform, the LED additions to the sphere, upgraded sound equipment, custom lighting harnesses, and a huge crystal ball at the top! Everything was larger in this version and all of the pieces were more professionally created. Later on, our investor commissioned carved quartz crystal plates to add to the 'spines' of the chairs, and the chair backs were redesigned to accommodate those crystal plates.
"My intention is for people to return to the basic feeling of being human, through careful and resonant stimulation of the senses. So often we become disconnected from our most subtle awareness, and it is my goal to reconnect people with that good feeling of just being alive, inhabiting a human body. "
-Louisa Firethorne
SONOSPHERE 3.0 Construction 2018-2022
The third (and hopefully the last) major overhaul of the Sonosphere design is the Cymatic Chladni Sonosphere 3.0- In 2020 Louisa joined forces with her husband Rowan Firethorne, and together with the help of a fabrication team, headed by Rusty Oliver of All Metal Arts in Seattle, they began construction on Louisa's new design. All major components are being upgraded and re-designed including both sound systems (ambisonic & cymatic).
Louisa went back to Western Washington University in the Fall of 2011 and set out to deeply study Physics and Materials Science for which she dedicated her time in study for 5 years and added 2 minors to her previous degree from WWU.
Her new outlook into the science of sound, the physics of materials, and the engineering of objects led Louisa to completely re-think, refine, and distill the Sonosphere concept further as she set out to build a much more powerful model that needed little explanation once it was experienced. Experimental trials on participants began in Mid-2022.