Ethics

Ghana has a budding music scene with many talented artists. Over the past ten years, many of them are doing great with little or no support. This however, isn’t stopping these musicians from creating – and churning out greatness.

In this first issue of the Norient Sound Series, we examine how political contexts of our time are transformed into musical production. With case studies from all around the world, this Norient Special approaches sampling as a tool for critical thought and a way of alternative storytelling.

What are the political implications and ethical concerns of sampling sounds of war? This is a critical question raised by «The End of Silence», a 2013 record from the British composer Matthew Herbert based entirely on a six-second field recording of the Libyan civil war. Musicologist Luis Velasco-Pufleau examines this question and argues that sound and music can enable critical examinations of the rationale of war.

The label «Beating Heart Project» repurposes ethnomusicological recordings from the International Library of African Music (ILAM) in Grahamstown, South Africa, to raise money for its charitable projects in Malawi and South Africa. In this article, Harry Edwards discusses the project’s sampling ethics and the supposed unequal power relations inherent to sampling in electronic dance music.