How the sound of religion changed in the pandemic

(THE CONVERSATION)

Things sound different in a lockdown. The silence of usually bustling streets, the two-tone whirr of ambulance sirens and the sudden awareness of birdsong, all formed an aural backdrop to the coronavirus pandemic.

Nowhere has the change in sound been more noticeable than at houses of worship. The voices of congregants praying, chanting and singing has been quietened in churches, mosques and temples. Instead, congregants have had to work in new acoustic settings, both in person and online.

In short, religion, too, sounds different during the pandemic. We know this, because we have been documenting the sounds of religious life in America. Over the last six years, our teams of faculty and student researchers at Michigan State University and The Ohio State University have cataloged hundreds of audio recordings, tuning in to what religion sounds like across a wide variety of spaces and traditions.

Sound and space

It might seem unusual to think about religion through sounds. Scholars are more inclined to define religions in terms of beliefs and doctrine, or focus on visual iconography and sacred architecture.

But there are good reasons why it is useful to turn to sound to understand religious diversity in the United States.

Listening for religion directs our attention to the things that religious people and communities do, not just what they believe. It brings us into formal spaces and times of religious life, as well as into more mundane moments of everyday practice, such as people chatting while preparing food for a religious festival or the sounds of removing shoes before entering a worship space.

Paying attention to religious sounds can serve as a reminder that religious practice is subjective, often spontaneous and shaped by participants – it takes place in particular moments and spaces.

Listening for religion

The religious sounds and silences being made during this pandemic provide extraordinary examples of the power of listening to understand the diversity of religious practices in the United States today.

Prior to the lockdown, we visited sites that might seem obviously religious, like churches, synagogues and mosques. But we also went to places that might seem ostensibly secular – a race track, rodeo, political rally or college football game. We adopted a broad approach to thinking about what counts as a religious sound or space.

By gathering these recordings together and curating them on a custom-built digital platform, we hoped to inspire new ways of thinking about religion in the United States.

Amy Derogatis, Michigan State University

Isaac Weiner, Ohio State University