Sound and Public Noise

    As I was reading The Ethical Soundscape, I was particularly struck by the sections in chapter four on Sound and Sensibility and Public Noise. In these sections, Hirschkind tells of the role of sound, and more specifically the call to prayer, in regulating the social rhythms of Muslim society. He tells of the first time that he heard the call to prayer as a boy, and just how beautiful it sounded to him. He then relates that to the overlapping sounds of the call to prayer of thousands of mosques throughout the city. This paints the image of the heavenly sounds changing the atmosphere by drowning out the chaos of normal city life. In the same way, Hirschkind relates this same effect to the cassettes playing in shops, cafes, taxis and buses as they change the moral atmosphere for those listening. With this, Hirschkind identifies these cassettes as much more than just a self-help tape. Instead, they create at atmosphere for individuals to find themselves and in turn to make more morally guided decisions. Hirschkind specifically terms this as an environment that nourishes affective orientations that undergird right reasoning. This got me to thinking about how this localized concept of cassette tapes could in turn have a bigger impact on the overall dynamic of a city. Does this calming atmosphere that fosters moral decisions have an impact on mood? Or crime? Or is this effect really seen at all? Could it be possible for these cassettes to be so readily played that they have in turn lost their effectiveness?