Do you hear what I hear? : The Sound Sex Project

Recently Mark Harris, a local musician in the band On Bodies and a Concordia University Media Studies MA candidate, sent me an e-mail giving me a heads up about a new project he's been putting together entitled the Sound Sex Project. Here's what he has to say about it:

Music becomes imbued with meaning through the myriad of ways that we use sound and song in our daily lives.

The Sound Sex Project seeks to explore how sound articulates desire, and how people use music to orchestrate their sexual encounters.

I began thinking about the links between sound, music, sex and arousal in an attempt to write about audio in pornography. My critique of the porn soundtracks was that sound quality seemed to be of less concern than image, that the noises of bodies and voices were often muted, and that pornographic scores were often cheesy, bland and repetitive.

Yet, in reading theorist Tia DeNora, whose work has informed this project, I was faced with my own arrogance. Who was I to deem what kind of music might or might not instigate sexual activity? Everyone uses music and sound in a different way.

This is where the Sound Sex Project needs your help. I would love any varying degree of participation, but my basic request is:

-Please send me the name of an audio track and artist which you have played during a sexual encounter. If you have an mp3 file of the sound/song, e-mail that as well. Please send your submission to:

soundsexproject@gmail.com

I will post all submissions chronologically on my blog, so please indicate if you would like your name to be used, if you would like to use a pseudonym, or if you would rather remain anonymous.

My aim is to compile a Sound Sex Project mix CD for everyone who participates. After the first compilation has been completed, feel free to submit to the project again.

I would love to post additional information about your song choice. If you are willing to share more than just the sound selection, other information you might include could be:

-your biographical info
-how your musical choice affected your sexual encounter
-what type of technology you used to play your soundtrack
-why you chose that particular work
-any other thoughts or reflections

Thank you for reading, and I look forward to hearing from you. Once again, please send all entries to:

soundsexproject@gmail.com