Framing intimacy: noise as a signifier of intimate silence

Noise is often conceived of as the opposite of silence. Yet, in the right context, certain kinds noise can contribute to the perception or interpretation of silence and quietness. Descriptions of this occurrence can be found in music recording discourse. Here, in certain contexts, noises generated by audio equipment, such as hiss, can sometimes be heard to signify silence. This, in turn, can elicit feelings of musical intimacy, which opposes conventional understandings of noise as creating a sense of distance between recorded music and its listeners. This article examines how noise might signify silence and elicit musical intimacy in the context of music recordings. We discuss conceptions of noise and silence before considering how understandings of noise in music recordings have been shaped by events in the history of record production. As a case study, we then turn to Mark Hollis's eponymous solo album, with its persistent background noise. We analyse the album and surrounding discourse from hermeneutic and semiotic perspectives to investigate how noise can be understood both as silent and musically intimate.