Music and Law

Question 1

How has music been used as torture?

Answer 1

• Sonic implications of torture esp prisoners of war
• Cuba – Guantanamo bay – using volume or repetition to torture people. Has been written about by ethnomusicologists.
• Musical violence – either violence (aggressive purposes); sonic gentrification (erasure of soundscapes)
• “Earsplitting” from Just Vibrations by William Cheng:
  o Loudness hurts
  o Sensory overload
  o Noise pollution
  o “no touch” torture – imperceptible to the eye, but still torture
• Sound grenade
• Suzanne Cusick, ‘Music, Torture, Repair’ (2008). US government used music torture in international wars in early 2000s

Question 2

What is Gogo music?

Answer 2

Gogo music:

• Indigenous music of Washington DC
• Rhythmic patterns – each associated with a particular band
• Sound of distortion being close to the mic
• Conversation with law enforcement: seen as hotbed for crime
• State of gogo in trouble because of emigration into DC and sonic gentrification

Question 3

What are the features of ‘Run Jo’?

Answer 3

• ‘Run Jo’ cover by Chuck Brown (often Gogo music uses existing music to ‘keep the party going’):
  o starts with a siren
  o Cow Bell - tinny sound using ostinati
  o Call and response – all might call ‘wind me up, Chuck’ – those in audience become part of performance.
  o Engages the law enforcement present at the event.
  o Rototoms (drums)

Question 4

How is Washington DC important for Black Music?

Answer 4

• Was a slaveholding city until 1862 – emancipation happened earlier in capital (emancipation signed in 1863)
• 1900: held highest % of African-Americans in the country (people came for jobs, educational opportunities)
• But still segregated (official segregation + effects of gentrification)
• Was centre for civil rights movement (March for Jobs and freedom 1963)
• First mayor was Walter Washington (black) – but still now power is held by congress – exacerbates tension between class and race
• Still lots of police brutality etc