I intentionally silenced all the other audios when the bang of the gunshot audio was heard to emphasize the musicality of the following part of the poem and also to symbolize the “limbo silence” that is referenced in this passage (44-5). I was also inspired by the phrase “where the music hides him,” throughout creating the overlays on the original audio, as it could be interpreted that these additional sounds are intended to mask the message that is being portrayed through Brathwaite’s words, similar to how slaves would often use music and singing to mask the pain of their insufferable position (92). This idea is also referenced later on with this statement toward the finality of the poem: “and the music is saving me” (145). I kept the water audio running throughout most of the audio to symbolize the continuity of the months-long voyages that the ships to transport slaves would undertake traveling across “kalunga” as stated in the audio (which as Brathwaite describes, means “threshold between worlds” and is a word taken from the Kikongo language of the Congo-Angola Basin, often used to refer to this journey across the Atlantic Ocean) and the creaking of the ships being a mainstay throughout the journey. In the last portion of the audio, there are three distinct sounds other than the water. The first to come in is the whip sound, which comes in when the “whip light crawling” is referenced. Then, the audio of chains rolling along wood comes in when the darkness of the ship is referenced, and this is meant to symbolize the torture that slaves endured on their passage, being chained in the cramped, damp cargo hold of a ship. The final audio to come in is the drum, which also comes in when it is referenced. All of these audios continue until the original audio is completed, except for the whip, which continues through the silence, symbolizing how these other sounds, the “music,” is able to effectively mask the torture of an individual slave, but when the music is silenced, the torture and cruelty of this practice is brought to light.
Works Cited
Grantham, Tosha. crossed kalunga by the stars & other acts of resistance. Gregg Museum of Art & Design. NC State University. https://gregg.arts.ncsu.edu/exhibitions/crossed-kalunga/#:~:text=Courtesy%20of%20the%20artist.,a%20land%20beyond%20the%20horizon. Accessed 14 January 2024.
Image acquired from this link: https://lithub.com/caliban-never-belonged-to-shakespeare/