An Investigative Documentary – Sneak Peak At Latin America’s Electronic Music
Countries like Chile, Cuba and Argentina played an instrumental role in the introduction of electroacoustic music in Latin America. Some countries were a bit sluggish in adopting electronic music. However, composers and producers in most parts of the wider Latin America are now moving to electronic music.
Argentina
As early as the 50’s, Argentina composers were already experimenting with electronic music. Musicians that started this trend include Kagel Mauricio, Franchisena Cesar, and Kropfl Francisco. Over the years, Argentina has produced an impressive long list of electronic musicians some who have since moved overseas.
Bolivia
Villalpando Alberto, who was born in La Pas in 1940, is thought to be the one that introduced electronic music to his country. Through this, other musicians like FernandezAgustin, Pozadas Florencio and Javier Parrado also started using electronic media for composing and producing their music.
Brazil
The pioneers of electronic music in Brazil are Antunes Jorge and Carvaho Reginaldo. Most of the growth and development of electronic music in Brazil can be attributed to the efforts of several universities including university of Sao Paulo, Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, Federal university of Bahi and Federal University of Espirito.
Chile
Schidlowsky, born in 1955 in Saantiago, is thought to be the very first musician to try out electroacoustic music in Chile. However, he moved to Israel but other musicians came up after him including Jorge Arriagada, Jose Perez de Arce, and Gabriel Brncic. The first ever electronic music studio in Chile was built in 1958 by Asuar.
Colombia
It is not very clear who introduced electronic music to Colombia but Blas Emilio and Nova Jacqueline are some of the earliest musicians known to have tried the genre. The growth of electronic music can be attributed to universities like the University of los Andes, and University of Manizales which had fully fledged music studios for producing electronic music.
Cuba
Juan Blanco is the one that introduced and influenced the growth of electroacoustic music in Cuba. Some of his popular pieces include “music a para danza” (1961) and “Texturas” Another notable contributor to electronic music is Edesio Alejandro even though he eventually migrated to Canada. Others include Composer Farinas Carlos, Julio Roloff, Pinera Juan and Leon Tania.
Dominican Republic
Alejandro Jose brought electronic music to the Dominican Republic from Puerto Rico where he used to live. He also made invaluable contribution to psychoacoustic music by leading research and composition in the field for years. Some of his popular works include Tangentes and Todo es Uno.
Ecuador
Born in Europe in the year 1938, Mesias Maiguaschca came back to Ecuador and influenced the music industry with his electronic music. These electronic sounds inspired other musicians to follow suit including the likes of Diego Luzuriaga and Pablo Freire.
Guatemala
Orellana Joaquna is the composer who is believed to have introduced electronic music in Guatemala. His first electronic compositions include “Humanofonia” and “primitiva I” when he was still at the institute Di Tella of Beunos.
Mexico
Hector Quintanar is one of the notable pioneers of electronic music in Mexico. He was the director of the very first electronic music studio which was setup in the year 1969. However, even before this studio was built, Pavon Raul, an engineer by profession, discovered electronic music and started pushing for the adoption of electronic musical instruments.
Some notable Mexican musician’s in the electronic music genre include Javier Alvarez, Davalos Guillermo, Enriquez Manuel, Julio Estrada, Manue rocha, Antonio Russek, Eduardo Soto, and Arturo Salinas.
Panama
Panama has David Soley to thank for introduction of electronic music in their country. Even though he lived in the USA for many years, he composed lots of songs that were a sensation back home. These include Torso-trozos (1993) and Linea (1995).
Peru
The history of electronic music in Peru can be traced back to Cesar Bolanos and Edgar Valcarcel. Cesar’s first piece was produced at Institute Torcuato and it became a sensation. Other notable pieces include “Dos en el Mundo,”“Flexum,”and “Lutero Yavi.”
The above composers are the ones that made the largest contribution towards the adoption of electronic music in their respective countries. As we have seen, some of these pieces were composed as early as the 60s and this trend has continued to grow over the decades across the Latin America region.
