To celebrate Google Assistant integration on Sonos devices, Sonos has created a pop up installation called the Brilliant Sound Experience. Those who drop by will go on an immersive and multi-sensory journey, using music from The National and Slowthai to let you not only hear the music, but to feel and see it.
Ever wondered what it’s like to not just listen to a song, but to feel and see its effects? That’s what Sonos’ Brilliant Sound Experience pop-up, located in the heart of London’s Soho, aims to do.
Made up of two rooms: the main room goes through the structure of a song, while the second room delves into the emotion of music. Both sound highfalutin, but are fun in their own ways.
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The main room of Sonos’ Brilliant Sound Experience pop-up in London
The main room features two tracks; one from US rock band The National and their track Rylan from new album I Am Easy To Find and a second track in UK rapper Slowthai’s Toaster, from his debut album There’s Nothing Great About Britain.
Each song is broken down to its stems, with vocals, beats and instruments separated and the various elements placed around the room in weird-polygonal shapes.
The songs have been separated in this way to allow an audience an in-depth appreciation of the music played. Lead vocals are often in the middle, with other elements placed to draw your ear and encourage walking around the exhibit.
And it’s hard not to notice the colours, too. Plenty of thought has gone into what and which colours have been associated with which musical element. Each instrument in the mix for The National’s Rylan has its own hue, while you’ll spot the vocals emanating from the red shape on Slowthai’s Toaster, matching the attitude of his voice.
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My brain is bigger than yours
The second room is a more sedate affair. There’s a range of tracks to choose from, with each tied to a particular emotion and played from a Sonos Beam. A EEG (Electroencephalography) headset is waiting to be put on that reads the amplitude of five brainwaves: alpha, beta, gamma, delta and theta and those waves are beamed to a projector screen ahead.
And on that screen you’ll see your brainwaves mingling together, and when one becomes more active the animation changes, growing and shrinking depending on the energy flowing to the headset. We like to think the bigger the wave is, the better the brain.
For those interested in the installation (as well as having a play with Sonos speakers), The Brilliant Sound Experience is on from 2-4th August at the Phonica Record Store, 51 Poland St, Soho.
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
