Guillermo Escalon- Sound Resiliences
Abstract :
An experimental work about guatemalan music history that includes the different sources of traditional and contemporary music. Initially a live show, it became a multimedia show that includes live instrumental, video scene techniques and drone photography.
Composed on the occasion of the Bicentennial of the Independence (1821-2021) of the Central American countries, it pays homage to the social groups (indigenous Mayan and Garinagu Afro-descendants) that were displaced and consolidated as subaltern groups as a result of the emancipation movement.
In this sense, the piece privileges the resilience of the musical sounds and genres of these social strata of Guatemalan society (Mayan and Garífuna), making them the main protagonists of a symbolic sound journey through the history of Guatemala, from pre-Columbian times to the present. The participating instruments are: From Mayan origin: cane flute, tun (slit drum) and whistling vessels; From African origin: the marimba; From Garífuna origin: voices, two garaones (one-frame drum) and sísiras (rattles); and, finally, belonging to the European tradition: guitars, viola and double bass.
On the technical level, the composition seeks the interaction of the sounds produced by the performers on stage with the sounds and films (pre-recorded and/or processed in real time), making sensitive technological elements (electro-acoustics and video-scene) in a way that is integrated to the live sound discourse.
Bio :
Guillermo Escalon :
Filmaker, I have been working for years with guatemalan composer and historian Igor de Gandarias. We have a colection of short experiments under the title of "Música para Ver".
Sound resiliences is our last work (2021). We are now working in a new project that will be using volcanic infrasounds as a part of a narrative about the presence of active volcanoes in our country.
Igor de Gandarias :
Igor de Gandarias is a Guatemalan composer, researcher and music producer who has worked for the last two decades in partnership with the Salvadorean filmmaker Guillermo Escalón constructing and making alive an aesthetic proposal called Music to See. They seek to integrate sound and image departing from electroacoustic structures and soundscapes from Latin-America, favoring an audiovisual discourse without text or parliaments handling strong components of heritage and identity. In this direction they have made hybrid productions departing from Latin American poetry, history, architecture, tropical and telluric nature. Sound Resiliencies is their last production in this endeavor.
@Guillermo Escalon @Igor de Gandarias