HISPANIC-MEXICAN CONTEMPORARY MUSIC COLLECTION 2

MEXICAN ELECTROACOUSTIC MUSIC

Antonio Russek     Raul Pavon     Roberto Morales     Vicente Rojo

PRESENTATION

The use of electronic equipment as a means of analysis, generation, transformation and reproduction of sounds for the realization of a work is something new in music. Thanks to this we discover the existence of a large proportion of noise inside the sound. This fact provokes a serious questioning within instrumental music, which has defined the problem only in terms of consonance-dissonance, while in the domain of electroacoustics it is posed in terms of new relationships between noises themselves, between pure sounds. , and complex sounds. We can ask ourselves then how can noise be music? (although the use of percussion instruments largely answers our question), moreover, how can sound be musical? In this sense, sounds are simple stimuli before becoming musical materials. Sound is everything that is perceived aurally; music is already a value judgment. What makes it possible to qualify these elements as musical is the cultural context of the listener and her attitude when listening.

In the creative order, electronics has had an extraordinary importance. Not only has it made possible the conservation of musical works, but it has allowed the composer to work directly on sound. In this way the process is modified; In instrumental music, the composer concretizes his ideas (knowing the sound qualities, as well as the register of the instruments in play), writing them with the help of a conventional notation, leaving the performer the task of deciphering the writing, of “translating” it into sounds. In electroacoustic music you can start from sounds recorded on magnetic tape, which are manipulated, transformed and mixed in a master tape in which the composition is recorded, in its final form, without the need to resort to a musical on note. ”. The composer is at the same time the interpreter of his work: it is the author who has carried out the interpretative process in the very course of the composition process.

For works that combine the tape with traditional instruments, it is necessary to resort to a notation that contains the parts of the performers. Compositions with synthesizers or computers to be interpreted in concert have required the development of specialized notation codes (graphics, diagrams, programs, etc.) to make the interpretive work possible.

The four works contained in this volume of the Hispano-Mexicana Collection of Contemporary Music* show us, in addition to the multiplicity and complexity of the sound elements offered by technological resources, other paths and other ways of conceiving music.

Antonio Russek, Vicente Rojo C. and Roberto Morales, belong to the recent generation of Mexican composers whose work focuses on the realization of works in which electroacoustics play a fundamental role. We also present a composition by Engineer Raúl Pavón in recognition of his work as a pioneer of electroacoustic music in Mexico.

This music presents us with a new ”spectrum of sounds” that demands from us, the listeners, a new type of hearing: a new music must correspond to a new way of listening. These works constitute clear proof that the presence of new materials and technical resources is a stimulus for the invention of different forms, ways of doing” and ‘saying”.

Mario Lavista

* It is necessary to point out that it is the first time that Mexican electroacoustic works have been released on disc.

ANTONIO RUSSEK 

Born in Torreón, Coah., 1954; he started his musical activity at an early age as a member of a symphony orchestra in his hometown for eight years. From 1969 to 1972 he studied piano with private teachers, and in 1973 he began studying film and design (stained glass and sculptures) in Mexico City, producing sound objects that he used in his compositions. He enters the UAM to study physics-chemistry. He concentrates on formal aspects of composition, acoustics, and electronic sound synthesis. He complements his composition study, building himself part of the equipment he uses. He was an advisor for the courses on electroacoustic music taught by Jean Claude Eloy and Jean Etienne Marie in their studio, and is a collaborator of the New Repertoire Company (UNAM), CENIDIM (INBA), the INBA Music Directorate and UNAM dependencies and UAM. He provides professional services for film, television, theater, and dance; he participates with the Da Capo quartet and other contemporary music groups as a consultant and performer. He is part of the editorial board of the magazines ”Pauta” and ”Fotozoom”. He currently directs the Independent Center for Music and Multimedia Research. His compositions have been released in various contemporary music forums in the country and in various countries abroad.

FOR OPEN SPACES

Electroacoustic composition for magnetic tape, made for a mixed event with the sculptor Enrique Luna, for the opening act of the ’81 Sculpture Show sponsored by Seguros América Banamex. The event consisted of an inflatable sculpture suspended from the roof along the entire length of the façade, the composition was heard through an 8-channel amplification system, whose loudspeakers arranged at different heights around the audience provided an enveloping sound environment. in an open space. The piece is built with material produced synthetically and by real objects; It is the use of electronic synthesis in combination with microsounds from different materials, treated according to their plastic relationship with the sculpture, and the acoustic properties of the place.

RAUL PAVON SARRELANGUE

He has been linked to the electronic music movement in Mexico since its inception when he founded, together with Héctor Quintanar, the first laboratory in the country, at the National Conservatory of Music. He is an electronics engineer and graduated in computers in Paris. He studied classical guitar and attended Andrés Segovia’s courses in Siena. He has carried out studies in electronic music laboratories in the United States and Europe; he also collaborated with Julián Carrillo on the design of the third tone piano. In the ’60s, he built the first synthesizer in Mexico.

He is the author of the book ”Electronics in music and art”, the first book in Spanish of this specialty. Starting in 1968, he abandoned the industry and dedicated himself fully to electronic music research and teaching, developing the ‘Icofón’ or sound images.

The music presented on this record corresponds to his ”Cosmic Fantasy for film, transparencies and electronic music. A part of the sounds heard in the play. They are the ones that produce the film images and transparencies… abstract figures that pretend to suggest a space trip. In the extract presented, this disc includes the sequences corresponding to departure, the earth and moon, the sun, the galaxy, a pulsar and the return.

The Icofón’ works have been presented since 1980 in Mexico (capital and province) and abroad.

ROBERTO MORALES

He was born in Mexico, D. F. in 1958. His training began with Mexican popular music. Later he carried out professional studies of piano, flute and composition at the Escuela Superior de Música. He participates in various improvement courses. He ventures into electroacoustics in a self-taught way and his interest in this field has led him to experiment with contemporary language and techniques by participating in projects with other composers. He has produced plays, movies, television and radio. His music has been presented in various specialized forums.

He is currently a member of the International Confederation of Electroacoustic Music and is a core member of the Independent Center for Research and Multimedia.

SPILLED WATER

It is a work produced entirely with electronic means, performed for synthesizers (Arp 2600, Korg 3100), magnetic tape, and a live polyphonic solo synthesizer.

“Spilled Water” experiments with the enormous dynamic possibilities of electronic instruments. In this case, the recorded material acts as a chamber orchestra, while the solo instrument embroiders, develops and uniforms. The composition consists of two sections, the first is supported by sound masses produced by oscillators modulated together, ring modulator, filters and amplifiers, controlled by voltage, while in the second part the oscillators with greater independence play a rather percussive role, and the solo instrument complements by modifying the attacks and the pitches of the different sound textures.

The recording was made at Avispa studios (Cuernavaca, Mor. ), with the collaboration of engineer Marcos Deli.

VICENTE ROJO CAMA 

Composer. Born in Mexico City in 1960, he completed his technical baccalaureate with a specialty in electronics in 1976. In 1979 he traveled to Paris and attended a course on Electroacoustic Composition taught by Pierre Shaeffer and Guy Reibel at the Conservatoire Superior de Paris, at the same time. time attends contemporary composition seminars organized by the Groupe de Recherches Musicales.

In 1981 he traveled to Barcelona and worked for three months at the Phonos electronic music studio under the direction of Gabriel Brincic. He returns to Mexico and works at Radio Educación as a music programmer. He participates in the activities of Antonio Russek’s electronic music studio, to date. In 1982 he joined the team that created the National Museum of Art and for three years he organized film clubs, conferences, concerts and music festivals. In 1985 he traveled to New York and attended a computer composition seminar given by Charles Dodge, using a PDP-11 computer at the Center for Computer Music, Brooklyn College.

He has premiered his music in various international and national forums. He is co-founder of the Atte group. The Direction” dedicated to multimedia. He is a contributor to the magazines ”Pauta” and ‘Fotozoom’. He is a founding member of the Independent Center for Musical and Multimedia Research (CIIMM).

VULCAN (1980-1983) 

The basic material for this tape was recorded in Paris at the GRM studios. The work was interrupted until 1983, when it was resumed in Antonio Russek’s studio for its premiere at the V International Forum of New Music. In its last stage, the selection of the material was made and the shape was elaborated. ”Vulcán” combines concrete material obtained from strings, voice and cymbals, it also uses analog synthesis. This piece studies the relationship between electronic and concrete sounds, so as to establish a dialogue in time and space.

Recommendations:

* Try to stand in front of the speakers at a distance equivalent to the distance between them, this will give you a balanced sound perspective.
* You can add an auxiliary horn; a third speaker connected out of phase between the two main speakers as shown in the diagram. In this way, the out-of-phase signals that make up the acoustic image are rescued, creating a more precise dimension due to the resulting sound arc.

Side 1

* “For open spaces” (1981) 13’55”
ANTONIO RUSSEK
Made in the author’s studio

* ”Cosmic Fantasy” (1982) 9’10”
RAUL PAVON
Made in the author’s studio

Side 2

* “Spilled Water” (1983) 10’20”
ROBERTo MORALES
Made in the author’s studio

* ”Vulcan” (1983) 11’10”
VICENTE ROJO C.
Made in the studio of Antonio Russek

Mexican Electroacoustic Music

Cover: ”Mexico under the rain”, Vicente Rojo
Design: Vicente Rojo C.
Photographs: Pablo Esteva
Production Director: Antonio Russell
Collection Director: Angel Cosmos

Disc No. 3 of the Hispano-Mexican Collection of Contemporary Music, published by the CIIMM (Independent Center for Musical and Multimedia Research) in Mexico, D. F.
Cuautla No. 84. Colonia Condesa, Tel. 553-74-57.
The manufacture of this record was in charge of the Dept. of Special Products of MUSART.

CIIM independent multimedia research center

cuautla – 84 cabbage. countess mexico, d.f. 06140.