Sound is the [REDACTED] of the World

Within musical spaces it is customary for first takes (and sound made with low-budget materials) to often be rendered demos, lo-fi or »works in progress« in the ongoing pursuit for a more polished sound. These classist notions of sound quality and the need for constant categorization penalize those who are genre-defying and not up to industry standards. The war against raw sound renders the sound maker a hostage entrapped in a constant strive for impeccable mixing and mastering in order to abide by technical understandings of clarity and polished form.

The project Sound is the [REDACTED] of the World will explore how sound editing can be centered in a decolonial practice that allows little to no distinction between music and noise. As a matter of fact, many genres (such as jazz, hip-hop etc.) were once deemed noise before their inevitable commodification. With this in mind, the project asks: How can sound that is not absent from bioacoustics, background noise, distortion, or vocal »flaws« retrain the sonic palette of a generation of listeners who grew up on pitch correction, overproduction, and (now) AI-generated music? How can algorithmic compositions be hacked into promoting »unpolished« and raw creations? Furthermore, in what ways can sonic resistance combat the tone policing echo chamber we live within?

This website you are about to access is an artistic work within the online program “Web Residencies by Akademie Schloss Solitude”. © 2023. Akademie Schloss Solitude – Stiftung des öffentlichen Rechts, Stuttgart and the artist(s). Technical support by Grayson Earle