How to dance to Beethoven in Freetown

The social, sonic and sensory organisation of sounds into music and noise

Bibliographic Data

ID12930604
AuthorsMichael Stasik (0000-0001-6354-2323, University of Bayreuth, corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume17
Issue2
Publication date2017-08-28
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAnthropology Matters (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1758-6453 • E-ISSN: 1758-6453
PublisherNomadIT (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.22582/am.v17i2.485
OpenAlexW2547982653
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited17

Different people perceive sounds differently. Though a seemingly obvious insight at first, these differences lead to questions about how sounds are organised into patterns perceived to be music or noise. Drawing on fieldwork in Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital, this paper tackles this conundrum. I start with some acoustemological vignettes about Freetown’s sonic environments, juxtaposing these explorations of ‘sonic sensibilities’ with reflections on how sounds become perceived as noise. Building upon works from anthropology, musicology, and cognitive science, I then turn to a closely related question, asking what makes sounds become music. In the last part, I show that, within Freetown’s social and sonic relationships, a main defining feature determining whether or not sounds are labelled music is the ability to dance to them. Ultimately, the danceability of Freetown’s music takes me to matters of loudness because, more often than not, dance music audiences favour extensive uses of volume

Acoustics · Aesthetics · Art · Dance · Ethnomusicology · Loudness · Musical · Musicology · Sierra leone · Sociology · Sound (geography · Soundscape · Visual arts · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · Diverse Musicological Studies · History · Music History and Culture

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