Lunchtime: Demo of Merlin Audio

Come and find out about Merlin Audio, a new low cost, highly portable immersive audio system from its creator, Merlin Goldman.

Merlin Audio is a portable immersive sound system: wireless Bluetooth speakers, each driven by its own Raspberry Pi , all responding to a single WiFI driven controller. Because every speaker is independent and carries no cable, they can be placed anywhere — on the floor, behind the audience, in a puppet — with no rigging, no cable runs and no fixed listening position. It sets up in minutes and packs into a bag. Future work is focussed on a bespoke interface and speakers.

Each speaker is addressed individually, and sounds can be started/stopped and looped through Max/MSP.  In the demonstration, the system will be shown working with time for discussion on applications and features that could be added. It could be used for outdoor theatre, storytellers, public spaces with restrictions on cabling. It comes without the cost and set up time of a conventional multichannel rig.

The session is as much about gathering responses as showing the system: the open question is what people would actually use it for.

Merlin Goldman is a Bristol-based creator-maker with a practice centred on electroacoustic devices. He completed an MA in Sound Production at Bath Spa University, where he won the Porthleven Prize and exhibited sound works in Porthleven and Bath. He is a MyWorld Scholar and currently a PhD researcher at Queen Mary University of London developing a quantum-inspired synthesiser.

Studio Accessibility Statement:
We seek to make all our events accessible.
– All areas of the event are wheelchair accessible. The event space is through 2 doors from the street, with no steps.
– There are accessible toilet facilities available on the same floor as the main event, through one door.
– We provide a separate quiet room for delegates to use throughout the event.
– Parking is available in a car park near to the venue. Charlotte Street Car Park is the closest.
– You are welcome to bring a personal assistant or service animal.
– There is currently no hearing loop at The Studio. All presentations will be delivered without PA. Please reach out to us if you have hearing or audio requirements.
– You will be able to inform us of any specific access needs in the booking form for the event.
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