...the art of noise

Yesterday’s musings on “The Sound of Music” made me think a little more about different types of music and how these affect or reflect our moods and emotions.

This started with the line “The hills are alive with the sound of music” – the context of the song and film being the mountains of Austria. So, it occurred to me that the music from this part of the world mirrors the echoing without and within that is created and felt by the mountains and style of musical expression in that area. Something about the geography, expanse of scenery and the quality of sound that is created within that space. Pure, echoing, reverberating sound that is created by external physical elements but can be felt by man’s internal soul. Not just the visual awesomeness but the sound it creates.

So I wanted to expand on a few other similar or contrasting resonances.

More relevant to modern culture today is the heavy bass line in music. A sound that physically vibrates around the inside of our bodies, much like the vibrations experienced by the amplification system delivering the sound. A sound or maybe noise that actually moves your body and that feels internal in all aspects. It rings inside our ears, makes our heart pound and feels like the sound is trying to physically burst out of us. Our bodies consume the sound and involuntarily adrenaline levels are raised. How & why does that happen?

White noise is a random flat sound. The constant pitch and repetitive nature of the sound connects with our psyche in such a way that we absolutely want the noise to end. And outcomes to the sound create physical & emotional effects on those exposed.

So what about silence and is there even such a thing in our world? How often do any of us encounter silence and does the lack of quiet space affect us?

Despite the multitude of Christian traditions created over thousands of years, prayer can still often be seen as an individual activity, undertaken in silence or quiet. A communion between God and ourselves. But perhaps there are ideas that can be taken from thinking about music and the sound landscape that God has created around us. And how we can use that to help us connect with ourselves and ultimately with God.

Maybe our prayer life can be more relational if we connect with and hear God’s world. It’s easy to think that God connects with us through words – the key way that we understand and engage with each other. If not hearing God directly then perhaps hearing God’s voice through the spoken word or wisdom of others.

Music and sound are perhaps just an alternative way that can help us reflect where we are back to God and in that space can be a way of feeling the echo within…feeling God within.