Feedback and discord

I have a theory that specific aesthetic conditions that are present within a society can indicate deeper social structures and the metaphysical principles that motivate these structures. In other words, the way in which certain forms of expressions appear or are reveals aspects of the mechanics of society itself. This is a difficult point, but perhaps two examples drawn from my experience here can flesh this idea out:

1. Feedback. We live in age of affordable highly proficient sound recording and production technology. Certainly, television studios and film production companies are fully able to afford the various components of the technology. The question that is begged is why is there still frequent feedback on television and for instance in nollywood films? (By feedback I mean when the sound levels peaks and starts to distort into a fuzz of noise). Is it a) production facilities are cash-starved, and even the basic equipment is not available? b) there isn't the technical know-how of equipment or production/post-production to flatten any possible feedback? c) There is no perception that there is anything wrong with feedback, and therefore a) and b) do not apply?

I toss and turn to decide which of these three responses applies, whenever I listen to an NTA news report rendered inaudible by feedback, or when some hammy actor in a nollywood flick starts shouting and the volume peaks into noise. Given that HD digital cameras are increasingly used here as elsewhere in the world, it may be the case that while a and b are factors, my suspicion is that c plays the domineering role. Feedback and excessive noise is not regarded as problematic here, whereas elsewhere it is. It is therefore only casually addressed. The point this aesthetic phenomenon reveals is that Nigerian society is a noisy society. I don't simply mean that people are loud on film, when using the phone etc. Rather, it is that excessive volume is part of the way in which life is lived and things are done. That volume expresses itself as feedback - where any significant content is transformed momentarily into the pure expression of white noise - is a spiritual value that structures the society. It indicates that sonic violence, as a mode of expression, is embraced within the rules of acceptable communication. There are similarities and differences with other cultures and societies here. Perhaps the main difference with western patterns (in Northern Europe) is that feedback and excessive volume is parcelled into compartments - youth culture, the demonstration etc - and expelled from many forms of collective gathering (the hushed office, the silent tube in the rush hour). One could say that noise is part of a restricted economy of sound in Northern Europe, whereas it forms part of a general economy here.

As has been observed, climate may play a role in all this. Warm places, where life has traditionally been lived outdoors tend to be more accepting of volume than cooler climes, where life has traditionally been lived indoors (has anyone ever accused Italians of being a quiet bunch?) That said, I'd like to argue for something specific about feedback levels in Nigerian social circumstances. Nigeria is a noisier society than for instance Ghana. Perhaps the highly complex political and ethnic backdrop plays a role in raising volume levels in this case.

2. Discord. One thing I've noticed in my time here that continues to puzzle - but first, a prefatory remark: I play jazz guitar, and have a reasonably advanced understanding of music theory after many years of classes and jam sessions. Just as spelling mistakes leap out at me without consciously looking for them after many years of professional writing/copywriting, so too, I find an out of tune instrument an offence to the ear.

What therefore puzzles is me is why every guitar I've heard played live in Nigeria has been out of tune. Again, a set of explanations arises. Is it a) guitarists here aren't trained on how to tune a guitar (matching against a piano, using harmonics, using a tuning fork/guitar tuner)? or is it b) They know how to tune a guitar but can't be bothered if the strings are just a little out? or c)(and a direct parallel with the c) of the feedback example) - there is no perception that a slightly out-of-tune guitar presents an issue?

Again, I am tempted towards c - for various reasons. First, all the out-of-tune guitars are not completely out of tune - they are just slightly (often a few microtones) out. This creates an unusual but not unattractive sound - a little like the first time one hears Thelonious Monk playing at the edge of the scale with flattened or sharpened thirteenths. It seems to me in fact that there is a stronger version of c at work - that the slight dissonance of an untuned guitar has a certain aesthetic quality to it. Untuned, the guitar creates microtones in the context of an ensemble which sound to me a bit like certain Saharan sounds. (As a caveat, I have to say that perhaps the two most famous Nigerian musicians in recent times who use guitarists - Fela and King Sunny Ade - do not use the technique).

Again, I suspect that the appreciation and culture of a slight dissonance within various music forms here - a dissonance that has parallels in other music forms such as flamenco or arabic forms - speaks of a larger social dynamic - that of an appreciation for the role of dissonance and discord within society itself. In general, forms of social harmony require disruptive elements as aspects of internal critique. It seems that this principle has long been maintained within various aesthetic traditions in Nigeria and relates back again to more fundamental spiritual values. One need only mention eshu-elegba, the orisha of disruption and communication within the Yoruba pantheon, as a case in point.

I'm sure some readers will find the above slightly self-indulgent pontification. All I would say in anticipation of this is that all societies are highly complex and multi-layered. Sometimes, analysing aspects of the aesthetic surface (the way people communicate, the forms of music and discourse they appreciate) can reveal aspects of the larger whole. Nigeria is a noisy and dissonant society. I think we see this in the joy of feedback and the appreciation of the discord created by an out-of-tune guitar.