The Felt Quality Of Sound – Bethany Kane and Sarah Raine (Birmingham City University, MA/PhD)

The Felt Quality Of Sound

Bethany Kane and Sarah Raine (Birmingham City University, MA/PhD)

Abstract

Journalistic coverage of music relies not only upon evocative and descriptive copy, but also on photographs which ideally capture the experience of ‘being there’. In this short photo essay, we bring together photographs (by Bethany Kane), ideas, poetry and quotes to explore the felt quality of sound. To what extent can images evoke a musical experience? Such noisy experiences are communicated to the reader through a noise-less visual representation, yet our shared and individual experiences of similar contexts (gained through personal or mediated experience) fill in the gaps, adding in a roar, guitars, drums, the cacophony of the crowd. Armed with an informed imagination, can these images ever be truly silent? In a noisy world, can we ever produce a silent image of musical performance, a photograph removed from the aural imaginary?

Noise- The Felt Quality of Sound