Some Comments about Electroacoustic Music and Life in Latin America

C D C O M P A N I O N Some Comments about Electroacoustic Music and Life in Latin America RicardoDal Farm F -A- or many years, I have been trying to promote the various forms of electroacoustic music produced by Latin American composers. Why? (Sometimes I think I should ask a psychoanalyst.) One of my own answers is that there is signifi­ cant interest in electroacoustic and computer media among Latin American composers, but the lack of infrastructure, the poor and/or expensive communications systems and the con­ trol of information (by both governments and commercial in­ terests) often frustrate many attempts to work in this field. For composers like myself who work and live in this region of the planet, it is often very hard to know what is happening (musically and/or otherwise) in a neighboring country, but it is comparatively easy to stay informed about music produced in North America or Western Europe. I know this problem is pervasive in many areas of the world, but I believe we need to do something about it. I do wish to have and appreciate hav­ ing access to music from the "first world," but I think that Latin American composers need to find a way to know each other, too. The global village should not work only for some peoples, knowledge should not travel in only one direction and the transmission of information should not be controlled by any single network in the globe. I saw the invitation to cu­ rate this CD as an opportunity to disseminate some of the electroacoustic music that has been composed in Latin America in recent years. During the year and a half I devoted to collecting music and information in order to produce this CD, I encountered innumerable problems as a result of the conditions men­ tioned above. Unreliable and expensive communications were a central concern. Things are changing fast in the "first world," and they are also changing in some Latin American countries (at least in some aspects of our lives). However, we cannot forget that people still die because there is not enough food, medicine and work in many Latin American countries. But that is not a reason to stop music production. On the contrary, it is a very good reason to invest money in education and cultural goods. ELECTROACOUSTIC MUSIC IN LATIN AMERICA There is much that can be said about music creation and pro­ duction in Latin America, and this isjust a brief introduction. However, I would like to mention some names that are part of the recent history of electroacoustic and computer music. Electroacoustic music is not new in Latin America. Chilean composers Leon Schidlowsky, Juan Amenabar and Jose Vicente Asuar were among the pioneers that started to ex­ periment with sounds and electroacoustic medias in the 1950s. There was also activity in the field in Argentina during the same period: Mauricio Kagel, Cesar Franchisena and Francisco Kröpfl were all developing music in different cities, planting the first seeds in what became, with time, a fertile place for electroacoustic composers. In 1962, the Centro Latinoamericano de Altos Estudios Musicales of the Institute Torcuato Di Telia was founded in Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires. This was a thriving hub of experimentation, research and creativity for all Latin American artists. Within a few years, the Institute had an electroacoustic music studio, and Peruvian composer Cesar Bolanos had created the first piece produced there ("Intensidad y altura," 1964). In 1972, the center closed and the laboratory donated its equipment to the Municipality of Buenos Aires, which created the CICMAT (Centro de Investigaciones en Comunicacion Masiva, Arte y Tecnologia). After several mutations, all the instruments housed in the CICMAT were integrated into a new, larger stu­ dio: the LIPM (Laboratorio de Investigacion y Produccion Musical). Several other studios were founded in Latin America dur­ ing the early years in the development of electroacoustic mu­ sic. Among them were the Laboratorio de Musica Electronica in Mexico, directed by Hector Quintanar, and the Estudio de Fonologia Musical in Caracas, Venezuela. Despite the frequent political changes that have disrupted this region in recent history, electroacoustic music has sur­ vived in Latin...