The Aesthetics of Reverb in Sikh Aural Architecture

Atop a knee-height, raised platform sits two harmoniums and a tabla, a microphone hovering above each instrument. These microphones route into a mixing board, which connects to an array of JBL speakers situated throughout the main hall and grounds of the gurdwara. When these microphones pick up the instruments or the voices that sing Sikh hymns, they add a cavernous reverb to the sound that gives it an ethereal, otherworldly quality.

Using Blesser and Salter’s theory of aural architecture (2007) and Auslander’s analysis of live performance in mediatized culture (1999), I argue that sacredness in Sikh musical practice is transmitted through the technological filter of reverb. Whereas previous studies on Sikh sacred music analyze affect, metaphysics, and/or spiritual underpinnings, I focus on the technical aspects and mediation of – and striking consistency across – Sikh kirtan in domestic, religious, and broadcast spaces.