Musiikkiteknologian aineryhmä Centre for Music & Technology

ACOUSMATICA II: Mexico - Colombia - Finland

lauantaina 22.10.2011 klo 19.00 Musiikkitalo, Black Box Saturday, October 22, 2011 at 7 pm Helsinki Music Centre, Black Bo

Mexico - Finlandia Manuel Rocha Iturbide

Purusha-Prakrti - 12'23''

Alejandro Montes de Oca

Cracked Voices - 12'50"

Patrick Kosk

Distrak-sillalla - 11'37"

Israel Martinez

Mi vida - 7'01" Väliaika/Intermission

Colombia - Finlandia Roberto Garcia

...del verbo... 10'35"

Alejandro Olarte

Secretos - 10' ca.

Kalev Tiits

Abacus - 15'30"

Marco Suarez

Cutting-Out - 15' ca.

Thanks to Taiteen keskustoiminta for their support.

Electroacoustic Music in Mexico The history of Mexican electroacoustic music begins with the interest of musicians in new ways to conceive of music using electronic tools. In 1937 Carlos Chavez published a book called “Towards a New Music: Music and Electricity” after his visit to the RCA and Bell laboratories in the USA. In the 60's, composers like Mario Lavista, Francisco Nuñez, Hector Quintanar, Humberto Hernández Medrano and Julio Estrada, who were students of Chavez, started to be interested in the possibilities that technological developments offer to musical language. Other composers, such as Carlos Jimébez Mabarak, Manuel Enríquez1, Manuel de Elias, and Alicia Urreta were influenced by this new approach as well. They formed the first generation of Mexican composers whose work was to a greater or lesser extent influenced by this new way of conceiving music. (Manuel Rocha 2003) After this generation, there is a consistent growth in musicians interested in this field. Some specialized in these new tools and techniques, in Europe and America. Examples include: Manuel Rocha, Alejandra Hernández, Roberto Morales, Javier Álvarez, Gabriela Ortiz and Antonio Russek. This generation constitutes the first generation specializing in this new knowledge in Mexico. Most have inspired the younger generation through their academic activities and work. Besides the interest of musicians in using technology to create music, another factor that has shaped Mexican electroacoustic music history is the opportunity of the community to get in touch with the technology needed for its production. The technological lag in Mexico, especially during the last sixty years during which the development of digital tools has grown exponentially in other parts of the world, has made artists travel to different parts of the world to learn and get in touch with this new medium. Fortunately, at the beginning of this millennium, thanks to the efforts of many people, Mexico now boasts a number of institutions dedicated to this matter. An example is the CMMAS (Mexican Centre for Music and Sonic Art) in Morelia, Michoacán, whose “mission is to foster the development of music and sound art in Mexico”, offering the necessary infrastructure for its production and diffusion, and residencies for Mexican and international artists and festivals. The National Sound Library is an institution created to preserve and take care of Mexican sound heritage; it opens its wonderful spaces and areas to concerts and exhibitions of different manifestation of sound art. The Multimedia Center is an institution that promotes the use of technology in the arts through consultants, workshops, and events like the “Transitio Festival”, which is dedicated to electronic art and video. Today there are diverse universities and music academies where 1

Enriquez created a festival for contemporary music in 1978 that now bears his name: “International Forum of New Music Manuel Enríquez”.

it is possible to study electroacoustic music, music technology, composition with technology, etc.: Conservatorio de las Rosas, Escuela Nacional de Música, and Escuela Superior de Música, amongst others. There are galleries and museums specialized in electronic art, such as “Laboratorio Arte Alameda” or ¨Ex Teresa Arte Actual”, which present art works by Mexican and international artists. In conclusion, at this moment there are many young Mexican musicians and artists interested in electroacoustic music and electronic arts living in or outside Mexico. There are a number of opportunities for its development, but I believe there is still a lack of places dedicated to its academic research, as well as spaces with the appropriate facilities for its study, production and diffusion. This concert is a short overview of what is happening within Mexican electroacoustic music. Manuel Rocha Iturbide Purusha-Prakrti (2005) This composition is about an imaginary trip that begins in the high mountains where the Ganga River begins and where the Yogis perform their spiritual practice, and it ends at Benares (Varanasi). The work is inspired by the dualistic conflict between spirit and matter that repeats ad infinitum in the eternal wheel of samsara, and by its possible ways out. The work was made starting from digital sounds recorded during two trips to India, where I recorded different soundscapes along the Ganges river (in the cities of Haridwar, Ritshikesh and Varanasi), many of them dealing with daily rituals where different kinds of bells and percussion instruments are played. In this way, sound instruments, animal life (especially insects and birds) and finally people with their diverse daily activities are the protagonists of this work that evolves like the sacred water stream of the Ganges. Manuel Rocha Iturbide (1963, Mexico City) studied composition at the Escuela Nacional de Música in the University of Mexico. He completed an MFA in electronic music and composition in Mills College, Oakland California, with Alvin Curran, Anthony Braxton, David Rosenboom and Larry Polansky (1991). In Paris, he took a one-year course in composition and computer music at IRCAM, where he studied with Bryan Fernyhough (1991-92). In 1992 he began his doctoral thesis on “Granular synthesis techniques” with Horacio Vaggione at the University of Paris VIII. In 1996 and 1997 he won two mentions at the Bourges Electronic Music Contest (instruments and electronics, and tape music) and in 2006 he received the first prize (in tape music) and in 1996 and 1997 he won the second prize at the Russolo Electronic Music Contest in the category of composition for instruments and electronics and tape alone. Besides composing, he is an active sound artist and has created sound installations, sound sculptures and intermedia art works presented at important international galleries and

museums. His music has been played throughout the American, European and Asian continents. He is co-founder of the international sound art festival in Mexico City (1999-2002) and is a member of the SNC grant system in Mexico. Manuel Rocha Iturbide currently lives in Mexico City, where he works as a composer and sound artist. His web page is www.artesonoro.net

Patrick Kosk Distrak-Sillalla (1992) "The main purpose of this composition was to find a 'compositional language' in relation to the sound materials, which in their acoustic profiles are a collection of more or less cultivated concrete sounds. For myself it was an effort to develop a coherent logic and to formulate some conclusive strata in linear thinking for configuring the compositional ideas. The acoustic character of the composition is based on three different sound environments: a) Recorded sounds from "natural objects", such as the shaking of dried leaves, going on thin ice, etc.; b) Sounds from equipment in an old cowshed; and c) Computer-processed concrete sounds (swords and a mechanical kitchen whisk.)" Distrak-Sillalla is a commission from the Finnish radio and was first performed at the Inventionen '92 festival in Berlin. Patrick Kosk (1951, Helsinki) began as a self-taught composer until he attended Helsinki University with Jukka Ruohomäki, working in the electronic studios in the Musicology Department from 1976-78. He has also attended masterclasses and courses with Andrew Bentley (Finnish Broadcasting Company), Iannis Xenakis, Benedict Mailliard (Institut National de L'Audiovisuel - Groupe de Recherches Musicales, INA GRM) and F. Hein (Technische Universität Berlin). Kosk takes his influence from the musique concrète tradition, and worked from 1981-91 as a freelance composer while basing himself at the experimental studio of the Finnish Broadcasting Company. Since 1992 he has worked at numerous studios, including Technische Universität Berlin, Institute for Electro-Acoustic Music in Sweden and the Sibelius Academy Computer Music Studio, and in 1998 set up his own private studio. His works span the fields of drama, poetry, dance, performance, radiophony, theatre, short films and instrumental ensembles. His prizes and awards include the Prix Cime 1985 (Nebula Prospekt), the Grand Prix de Bourges 1999 (IceBice) and Honorary mentions at the Luigi Russolo/Italia, Bourges, and Prix Italia. He is a member of The Society of Finnish Composers, Vems (Sweden), Äänen Lumo (Charm of Sound) and Muu ry.

Alejandro Montes de Oca Cracked voices (2009) Electroacoustic compositions based on Samuel Beckett's one-act play 'Krapp's Last Tape'. This theater piece is about a man called 'Krapp', who keeps a sound diary in which he saves his memories. During the performance he is going to record what is supposed to be his last recording, but as he starts listening to his memories, he begins a journey through time. While reading this beautiful play, I was fascinated by two things: the sound allusions and descriptions, as well as the temporal logic used by Beckett, moving forward and backwards in time. I have tried to incorporate these ideas into a music composition of my own. The temporal logic used in the theater piece was a starting point for me to explore different concepts of musical time and musical form structures. The piece does not attempt to represent Beckett's play, but rather tries to explore our sound world and our time concepts. It is a journey amongst memories that, in this case, are sound memories. Commissioned by the IMEB. Alejandro Montes de Oca (1980, Mexico City) is a composer, performer and sound artist. Inspired by the physical materiality of sound, our contemporary soundscape and different time perceptions, he focuses on organizing sounds in space and time with the use of self-made electroacoustic instruments and applications. Alejandro received a bachelor's degree in guitar performance from the Superior School of Music, Mexico City, and a master's degree in electroacoustic composition from the Royal School of Music in Stockholm. He studied computer music and media electronics in Vienna, and followed the ECMCT (European Course for Musical Composition with Technologies) Helsinki-Barcelona program. He has received commissions from the “Instrumenta Festival” (Mexico), IMEB (France), CDMC (Spain) and ICST (Switzerland), as well as scholarships from the UNESCO-Aschberg, FONCA, the Cultural Minister of Spain and the Swedish Performing Rights Society (STIM). He was awarded the 10th Electroacoustic Composition Competition Musica Viva prize and the Franz Liszt Stipendium 2011 prize. His music has been released on various compilations and has been presented in different festivals and concerts in Europe and America. His web site is www.allmonts.com Israel Martínez Mi vida (2006) 'Mi vida' ('My life') is the narrative of a car ride that ends in a crash, using a non-linear form based on electroacoustic processes. This work is a reflection on the excessive use of the automobile and its cult-object status in several societies. This work received the Award of Distinction at Prix Ars Electronica 2007 in the Digital Musics category and was included on 'An anthology of noise & electronic music volume #6', an important compilation by Sub Rosa.

"The rare subtlety of this work strikes on first listen. It could be called concrete, or even acousmatic, music but the important thing here is the intensity of life itself that one finds in these variations on accidents and engines". Guy Marc (Sub Rosa) Israel Martínez (1979, Guadalajara, Mexico) is a multidisciplinary artist and electronic musician who works with sound as main source and subject. He has composed experimental and electroacoustic music and made actions, video, installations and site-specific projects. His discography includes 'Two espressos in separate cups' (2011), 'El hombre que se sofoca' (2011), 'Sigilo' (2011), 'Triptych' (2010), 'Nareah' (2009), 'Exorcizios' (2008), 'Los Demonios de la Lengua' (2006) and 'Cubensis' (2005); his work has also appeared on several compilations released by labels around the world. Since 2003 he has participated in festivals and sessions of sound art and music, in contemporary art exhibitions and art & new media meetings throughout America and Europe. He received the Distinction Award at Prix Ars Electronica 2007 in the Digital Music category for his sound piece ‘Mi Vida’. He is co-founder of the Mexican label Abolipop and the mind behind electronica project Nebula 3. He has written about alternative music and culture in several Mexican publications since the middle of the 1990s, has curated projects around sound and art, and teaches this subject in workshops and at the Instituto Cabañas' Visual Art School in Guadalajara (Mexico). www.israelm.com

Electroacoustic Music in Colombia The Colombian electroacoustic music tradition goes back to the year 1965, when Fabio Gonzáles Zuleta (b. 1920) composed his "Ensayo Electrónico" at the studios of the National Radio in Colombia. Zuleta studied at the Los Angeles School of Music, in Bogota and in Cologne where he attended Stockhausen's lectures in 1966. His work is a transcription of a chorale into electronic sound using a procedure based on a series of numerical relations between harmonic structures and frequencies; this approach shows the influence of the Cologne School of the time. Zuleta opened the way for other composers who were mainly interested in modern instrumental composition to become interested in experimentation at the studios. These composers were related with important international institutions, for example Blas Emilio Atehortua (b. 1943) and Jaqueline Nova (b.1936) at the "Instituto Torcuato Di Tella" conducted by Alberto Ginastera in Buenos Aires, Argentina; David Feberbaum and the "Centre for Electronic Music" at the Royal College of Music in London, where He attended courses with Michel Decoust and Peter Maxwell Davies; and Francisco Zumaqué (b. 1945) who was introduced to the electroacoustic world at the "Ecole Americaine des Arts" in Paris.

Of this generation of composers, the work of Jaqueline Nova is outstanding and exceptional: "As an electroacoustic composer, Nova developed much more sophisticated techniques and fluidity for this medium than any other Colombian composer of her generation due to her constant involvement in the medium and her contact with other composers of electroacoustic music throughout the world"2 One of her more important works is "Cantos de la Creación de la Tierra" (processed voice on tape, 1972). It was produced at the acoustics lab of the Universidad Nacional de Buenos Aires under the direction of Francisco Kroepfl. The sonic material for this work is a chant in Tunebo, an aboriginal text from the Indian tribes of the central state of Boyaca-Colombia. The text is a story in Paleotegría, the Chibcha tribe'fs defunct language, which Chibcha priests used in their magic chants. This work was featured at the Contemporary Music Festival of Bourges, France. The first sound sculpture in Colombia was created by another woman: Feliza Bursztyn (b. 1933). The work is titled "Las Histéricas" and was displayed at an art exhibition in 1968 in Bogotá. She was particulary interested in movement in sculpture. The first stage of the development of electroacoustic music in Colombia was then marked by the activities of a few artists and composers mainly focused on acoustic instrumental composition but intrigued with the world of electronic sounds. For them the contact with their European or American fellows was a key step in the assimilation of technology, techniques and aesthetics of that time. Very little has been said in Colombian academic circles about other popular expressions of electronic sound culture that might potentially have developed simultaneously to scholarly practices; however, it is interesting to notice that it was almost ten years until the next wave of composers and young researchers who decided to take the electronic train of adventure. In fact it was in a live electronics group – "Sol Sonoro", formed by Roberto Garcia, Luis Boyra and Ricardo Arias – that, in 1986, a new sun began to shine in the Colombian electroacoustic music scene. Mauricio Bejarano, Roberto García, Andrés Posada, Juan Reyes, Catalina Peralta, Gustavo Parra, Arturo Parra, Ricardo Arias, Camilo Rueda, German Toro are some names of composers, artists, researchers, performers and pedagogues from that generation. They have had a strong influence in the development of the field in Colombia and in some cases abroad (to cite only a couple of examples among this very active generation: Camilo Rueda can be mentioned as a part of the team – led by Finnish researcher Mikael Laurson – which developed PatchWork3 (released in 2

Lucio Edilberto Cuellar Camargo,The Development of Electroacoustic Music in Colombia, 1965-1999: An Introduction Leonardo Music Journal, Vol. 10, Southern Cones: Music Out of Africa and South America (2000) 3 PatchWork is a tool for computer-assisted composition, although it can be used also as a general purpose programming tool. At the time of writing PW has attracted more than 200 registered users. Among these are

1993), or German Toro, who was director of the computer music course at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna (1999-2006) and since 2007 is the director of the ICST at the School of Arts, Zurich). Some important facts to be mentioned about the development of electroacoustic music during the 90's include the founding of "Laboratorio Colombiano de Música Electrónica Jacqueline Nova" in Manizales, the "Computer Music Center" in Medellin, the establishment of the Electroacoustic Community of Colombia (ECO), which organizes festivals and concerts, and the creation of new music festivals and cycles such as the International Festival of Contemporary Music, organized by pianist Cecilia Casas, and the Young Composers cycles organized by the American Institute Colombo-Americano with the assistance of Carlos Barreiro. Thanks to the devotion of this group of artists and scholars who dedicated their lives to electroacoustic music, my generation had solid ground from which it was possible to take off in electronic jets and continue the adventure. To enumerate all the active Colombian artists working with electroacoustic media in this beginning of the XXIst century is a very ambitious project calling out for academic research; this concert is a small but grateful opportunity to bring a sample of this music to the context of the electroacoustic music community in Finland. Roberto García Piedrahita ...Del Verbo... (1987-1988) Roberto García Piedrahita (b. 1958) studied piano and music pedagogy in Bogotá. In 1981, he moved to Barcelona to study electroacoustic music at the Phonos Foundation with Gabriel Brncic. Piedrahita also attended workshops with Nono and Kroepfl. He has participated in many international festivals, including the International Music Festival of Barcelona and the Festival International de Musique Experimentale Synthèse in Bourges, France. Since 1986, he has organized and participated in many events promoting electroacoustic music in Bogotá and Cali, and has worked with live electronics with Rodolfo Acosta and Tangram, a group formed by students of the National University's music department. He has taught courses on electroacoustic music in Barcelona and at the National University in Bogotá. Among his works are Palabra Major; Ambiguo, a dance and theater video; Emoc Agutroc Emoc; and Del Imperativo for tape (1998). Del Imperativo reduction version of "Del Verbo..." was recorded for a CD entitled 33 Años de Música Electroacústica en Colombia (1998).

individuals with highly diverse musical and aesthetic backgrounds, including among others Marc-André Dalbavie, Brian Ferneyhough, Paavo Heininen, Magnus Lindberg, Tristan Murail and Kaija Saariaho.

Del Verbo...(1987 - 1988) is built in three sections. The first section is based on granular sounds which are placed at different points in space. The second section has a much deep and meditative pace than the first, due to the long duration of its sounds, and so is more quiet and introspective. A transition section expand the spectral space by using longer sounds that move through a wide range of frequencies. The third section is very similar to the first section. It presents the same materials; however, they are organized differently and solicits the memory to build up the whole organization structure of the piece . The predominant sound synthesis technique used in Del Imperativo is subtractive synthesis or filtered white noise and a distributed process of grain organization on the physical space. Luis Alejandro Olarte Secretos (2011) Luis Alejandro Olarte (b. 1978) is an electroacoustic musician, devoted to pedagogy, live performance and digital lutherie. He is preparing his doctoral research in live electronics, pedagogy and improvisation at the Center for Music and Technology in the Sibelius Academy with Andrew Bentley. He studied guitar and electroacoustic composition in Colombia, and generative improvisation and musical acoustics at the National Conservatory in Paris under the guidance of composer Alain Savouret and engineer Charles Besnaionou. In 2007 he took part in the European Course for Music Composition and Technologies in Barcelona and Helsinki. In 2010 he completed his studies at Paris University in computer music with Horacio Vaggione and Anne Sedes. Olarte works as a freelance artist, performing, teaching and collaborating with dancers and actors, particularly with choreographer Opiyo Okach, (Kenya). Secretos (2011) With this piece I wanted to explore the concept of attack transients, or the very beginning of a sound. Psychoacoustical studies reveal the importance of the first instants of sound in recognition and identification tasks. So, I built complex attacks exploring the time limits where the sounds are heard as a unified fusion or as rhythmical pattern of a series of intertwined entities. A contrasting sound element is introduced by an altered voice. Kalev Tiits Abacus (2011) Kalev Tiits (b. 1961) is a musicologist, composer and teacher of electroacoustic music, working at the Centre for Music & Technology, Sibelius Academy. Education and previous employers include the University of Helsinki, Helsinki University of Technology, Royal Conservatory of The Netherlands in The Hague, and Oulu Conservatory of Music and Dance. His

works have been performed or installations appeared in Helsinki, The Hague, Amsterdam, Glasgow, Pärnu, Bourges, La Habana (Cuba), Santiago de Chile and Göteborg.Tiits works with both music for fixed media and live electronic performance with electronic & electro-mechanical devices. Abacus is the last piece of the album "Stone Dance" released by siba records in August 2011. About the piece Abacus the author says: "(the piece) was born as a solo improvisation in Koko Teatteri, Helsinki. The fact that the concert was recorded resulted in an idea that the recording could be published as a part of an album. In such a way the piece got a second life. Now it is moving to its third life: being played in a concert as a fixed media sound diffusion piece, it is not the same as the original improvisation nor the record, but something that depends on quite a different sound system, in a performance, place and situation that also are quite different. Premeditated diffusion or spirit-of-the-moment improvisation: I cannot say that one or the other version is better or preferable. But to what extent will the new circumstances change the piece?" The notes of the album read: "Behind this music, there are certain beliefs. • Music should tell things that otherwise could or might not be told. • Music should not be over-explained. It should speak for itself. • Music can take your mind to places new and fascinating, maybe also to places old and fascinating". Abacus is definitely a captivating imaginative voyage. For a quarter of an hour, Mr. Tiits explores and builds a variety of colorful soundscapes propelled by the feedback technique that consists of injecting the outgoing signal of an electroacoustic circuit back to the input. In this way all the physical and electrical properties of the components in the audio circuitry are enhanced and used as a compositional tool, or in this case an improvisation strategy. Marco Antonio Suárez Cifuentes Cutting-Out (2010) Marco Antonio Suárez Cifuentes (b. 1974) works on the idea of acoustical space as a main parameter in musical perception, formalisation and language, while using new technologies and developing electroacoustic interfaces and sound installations. Instrumentally, his music investigates the relationship between musical gesture and the production of sound as he attempts to create a particular “gesture” environment for the performer. He studied music composition at the Javeriana University, Bogotá. From 2002 to 2006 he studied music composition with M. Emmanuel Nunes and electroacoustic music composition with M. Luis Naón at National Conservatory in Paris. From 2006 to 2009 he worked in two IRCAM programs: "Cursus de Composition et d’informatique Musicale" and

"Formation spécialisée en composition recherche et nouvelles tecnologies". His music has been performed in South America and Europe by groups such as the Ensemble Intercontemporain, the Ensemble Orchestral Contemporain, the Ensemble Multilaterale, the Ensemble le Balcon, l’Itinéraire l’Instant Donnée (France), l'Ensemble Vortex, Contrechamps (Switzerland), Contemporanea (Denmark), Onyx (Mexico) and Decibelio (Colombia). Cut out noise has been realized entirely with a real time interface instrument combining modal synthesis techniques with live signal transformations on sounds created using spectral analysis from sun’s filaments. I was particularly interested in sun’s spectral analysis by the exchange with Julio Ramirez, a Mexican doctorate astro-physician that I met in Paris on 2006. The procedure which I applied for the conversion of light’s spectra into sound was mainly experimental and quite arbitrary, even though the sounds resulting: violent, rich and dynamic; have been inspiring for the creation of a cycle of electro acoustic pieces. On it’s original version, one performer should control the interface and realize instrumentally the piece. For this concert a tape version of Cut out noise has been prepared.