Amplification of Souls

Abstract

In this publication, Gilles Aubry presents elements from his sonic research in Christian charismatic churches in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo. He explores the noise aesthetics of religious sound practices involving audio amplification, feedback, distortion and recording technologies. His documentation includes spiritual services, predications, sound-checks, rehearsals, a church video-archive, and film-soundtracks, as well as the preparation of an evangelization campaign in the city center. In focusing on the material aspects of sound, Aubry finds traces which attest to the complex relationships between Christian faith, traditional beliefs, neo-colonial representations and urban politics in Central Africa. At the same time, the research opens a parallel with the aesthetics of “first-world” noise music. The CD contains a 34-minute-long excerpt of a spiritual deliverance service (Amplified Souls, track 2) including collective prayers, predication and speaking-in-tongues recorded at the Libambu Ministry Church in Kinshasa. The Amplification of Souls (Track 1) is a 30-minute-long audio-essay which combines together various sound sources according to a material-based form of cultural interpretation. The 80 page-long book contains an interview with Gilles Aubry by Christof Haffter and an essay by musicologist and cultural anthropologist Johannes Ismaiel-Wendt, along with text fragments and photos from Aubry's research in Kinshasa.