Amplification of Souls

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, soundchecks, 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 book features an interview with Gilles Aubry by Christoph Haffter and an essay by musicologist and cultural anthropologist Johannes Ismaiel-Wendt along with text fragments and photos from Aubry’s research in Kinshasa. The two track CD contains a 34 minutes excerpt of a spiritual deliverance service including collective prayers, predication and speaking-in-tongues, recorded at the Libambu Ministry Church in Kinshasa. The other track is a 30 minutes audio essay which combines various sound sources according to a material-based form of cultural interpretation.