Music Of El Salvador

Hello, there I'm getting ready for the upcoming multicultural fair this month. I can't believe all this time has passed and I haven't post anything; Oh well it's been a busy and fun summer.

Here's a brief time-line of the music in El Salvador. I still have to edit some parts and put it in a brochure. I will post the result soon.

Music of El Salvador.

Through the time, Music in El Salvador has been changing and adapting to the different political and ethnic changes. Music from every corner of the continent collides in El Salvador due to the geographical position, offering a wide range of musical styles.

We will briefly consider the most important periods of time that helped mold the modern music in El Salvador.

Pre-Columbian times.
The pre Columbian time gave the native Salvadoreans many wind and percussion instruments, many of these instruments were made out of clay and wood. Despite all the archeological findings and the study of pre-Columbian instruments and its sounds, it’s very difficult to establish an specific musical interpretation or the actual kind of music that they played.

Latin American Conquest.
During this time, Mesoamerican music was largely proscribed by the Spanish inquisition with a full predominance of religious music. Many natives and African slaves were forced to masked their rituals, music and dances. European instrument replaced the existing ones, with a few Mesoamericans played alongside, the ones that did not fit in the new cultural practices decayed and eventually disappeared.

XIX Century.
Vocal and instrumental music was a ceaseless expression. During this time the first musical bands appeared, supported by the militias and the church to liven up their rituals. The phonograph makes its debut at the end of the century and the first radio stations are established in El Salvador giving way to a new wave of bands that interpreted popular music.

Industrial Capitalism and modern days.
This period is characterized by the creation of instruments from industrial waste like sheet metal and plastic. Later on, El Salvador had a strong influence from the Colombian Cumbia (African) and The Mexican Ranchera (Spanish), many of these musical movements were dissolved by the political violence in the midst of the civil war. The 50’s brought the Rock and Roll and rhythms like the twist and ska, being a definite hit between the population, making it difficult for the typical band to subsist. From the 50’s to this time there’s been lots of American, Mexican, South American and Caribbean music influences, creating movements like: Cumbia (a very popular style), Rock, Electronic, Hip hop, Ranchera, Salsa, Merengue, Andean and many others.

I hope to see you there..

Carving Tepunahuaste

I found the log like I said before. I'm now in the process of carving it. Here are a few pictures of the progress:

 

It's been a long time!

It's been a while since I posted. I've had a few busy weeks but I'm back. I'm here just to tell you that I might have found the perfect log to carve the Tepunahuaste; also I've been working on the backing for the stand and the supports for it. I will be posting pictures of the process pretty soon.

Ha pasado un buen tiempo desde que estuve en el blog. He tenido un par de semanas ocupadas pero estoy de regreso. Creo que he encontrado el tronco perfecto para tallar el Tepunahuaste; también he estado trabajando en el soporte y en el respaldo del stand. Pronto subiré fotos del proceso.

Music from El Salvador

I'm already thinking about the next topic: Music.

In my mind has been rounding the idea of carving a Tepunahuaste. I've been looking for a walnut log that will fill all the requirements to make this happen, I haven't found it yet, but I will eventually. I will keep you posted.
Oh I forgot to tell you that the Tepunahuaste it's a percussion instrument. It consist of a hollow log with an incision in the shape of an H and it only emits two different notes.

This is an schematic of the instrument:

I also found today a perfect arch to make a Caramba. The caramba it's a single string instrument with a calabash shell in the middle of the bow and it's played hitting the string with a stick, sort of like a Brazilian berimbau only longer.
I will post some pictures of the progress once I get all the necessary supplies to start building it.

Until then I will keep thinking about more instruments to add to the list.

Talcigüines Slideshow

The Talcigüines Slideshow it's been completed I will only use some background sound and I also added the Credits at the end.

Here is the result:

El Slideshow de Los Talcigüines esta terminado, decidi solo usar un sonido de fondo y agregue los creditos al final.

Aquí esta el resultado:

Traditions Brochure

I finished the Traditions Brochure just now. I was debating about what background I wanted to use on this and the answer was right in front of me: My computer desk! The texture on the top was the perfect choice for this matter. I took a picture of it and this is how it ended up looking:

El Salvador Traditions Brochure1

Balls of Fire Slideshow

I finally finished the Balls of Fire slideshow yesterday here is the result: