Editors' Notes

Despite computer music being commonly identified as having North American or European origins, Latin American composers and performers have had a great interest in it since its inception, with a long and prolific history comparable to these other traditions. Research and music from this region have had limited visibility, however, resulting in a significant gap in academic knowledge, partially due to the language barrier and the lack of technological means and international exposure for many artists. Nevertheless, in recent times Latin America has experienced an interesting increase in activity in the field, as some of the most important international academic conferences have taken place in the region, such as the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression (NIME) in Brazil in 2019, and both the International Computer Music Conference (ICMC) and the International Conference on Live Coding (ICLC) in Chile in 2021. These conferences have showcased a significant amount of artistic work and research that is being accomplished in the region. This special issue of Computer Music Journal aims to bridge some of this still-existing gap by publishing new technical and historical research on computer music practice in Latin America.This special issue comprises eight articles written by artists and researchers with ties to Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Uruguay, offering some fresh perspectives on the computer music that Latin America is currently producing and addressing some of the most important challenges that it faces today.We begin with the article of Ricardo Dal Farra, who is an important Argentinian composer and researcher of the history of electroacoustic and computer music in Latin America. He argues that the progression of this genre in the region has been astounding despite political and economic instability that has affected the lives of inhabitants for decades. One example of this development is the Latin American Electroacoustic Music Collection, hosted by the Daniel Langlois Foundation for Art, Science, and Technology in Montreal, and curated by Dal Farra. This collection has over 1,700 digital recordings of compositions created between 1957 and 2007 by almost 400 composers, helping to break barriers and broaden the way their history is comprehended.Art, science, and technology exist in coordination and articulation within structures that are not always understood. Sound art is a discipline that encompasses music and everything that, around an artistic proposal that uses sound, cannot be included under the concept of music. Sound tells a lot; it indicates, signals, warns, guides, alerts, and amuses us. When organized in music, it reaches a remarkable degree of abstraction that touches our feelings and way of acting, both individually and collectively.Dal Farra points out that there seems to be a missing link in sound art and music history, and the effort required to learn about their history in some regions of our planet is still remarkable today, as is the Latin American case. Finally, the article emphasizes the importance of archiving and disseminating electronic art to comprehend the present and build our future, challenging the hegemony of the computer and electroacoustic music history narrative.The second article, by Rabello-Mestre and Otondo, describes the algorithmic design and implementation of A Queda do Céu, a sound installation and kinetic sculpture developed as part of the Soundlapse project, which is a response to regional ecological and political debates and the global climate crisis. The work drew from an extensive library of field recordings collected in southern Chile and used a variety of real-time processing, interpolation, and mapping techniques to provide an ever-evolving perspective on the ecosystems.The article presents the challenges faced by the project, including the development of a refined version of the sonic time-lapse method (STL) that incorporates machine learning routines and user-defined spatialization capabilities. The project's focus is on developing applications that allow for a greater degree of user interaction, allowing for creative control and real-time spatialization of soundscapes.Rabello-Mestre and Otondo provide a contextual account of the work's role within the project, a detailed description of the installation's acoustic and algorithmic architecture, and the interactive relationship between the sculptural modules and the work's immersive sound environment. Finally, the article discusses the work's location within the global ecological context and the opportunities it provides for a new listening regimen that responds to our current environmental challenges.The third article, by Ramos et al., discusses the development of an electronic version of the bandoneon, an instrument with roots in tango culture and Latin American music, especially from Argentina and Uruguay. Owing to the high cost of purchasing a new bandoneon and the scarcity of manufacturers, the authors aim to create a more accessible and expressive version of the instrument by combining modern technologies and scientific research. The bandoneon's acoustic and physical properties were analyzed through an acoustic measurement system that characterizes several sound attributes, which are then utilized in a custom synthesizer made using the Faust DSP language. Their electronic bandoneon achieves a good level of expressiveness and engagement for the performer and is suitable for recreational, academic, and professional use.Overall, the article presents an interdisciplinary project that seeks to produce electronic bandoneons that are expressive and accessible to new generations of musicians. By combining modern technologies and scientific research, the authors aim to address the current sociocultural demand for the bandoneon. They also highlight the need for more attention to be paid to the design and manufacture of the bandoneon and for more academic studies to be conducted on its acoustic and physical properties.The next three articles are related, in different degrees, to Mexico. The article by Duarte-García and Wilde discusses the concept of Paisaje sonoro social, which is an approach to sound art composition that aims to raise awareness about specific social issues experienced in Mexican society using oral testimonies, real and imagined soundscapes, and electroacoustic music. The authors analyze a portfolio of six compositions based on social problems experienced in different parts of Mexico during the last ten years, such as child exploitation, migration, poor working conditions for factory workers, poverty, and children working in the tourism industry. The authors argue that Paisaje sonoro social shares features of other genres, such as soundscape composition or acousmatic storytelling, but has fundamental differences.The authors highlight the social contrasts that exist in Mexico and how these generate social conflicts such as lack of education, lack of job opportunities, violence, and crime. They note that Mexico has had a tradition of socially engaged artists since the muralist movement of the 1920s, and Latin American artists, in general, are preoccupied with portraying the social problems of their time and society. Finally, the authors argue that Paisaje sonoro social is a new genre that combines elements of different existing ones to address specific social issues, and that it has the potential to raise awareness about these matters and promote social change.The article by Eisner analyzes the Lumínico project, a Mexican ensemble that merges mixed musical pieces and live performances with real-time processing of audio and video. The ensemble's technological infrastructure is interconnected, and its network accounts for the development and mastery of digital media's technical possibilities, including a complete adaptation of the instrumentalists' strategies. The author contends that the Lumínico project challenges the concept of an artistic work, as it exists only as an event in which all participants are involved. Lumínico concerts are rehearsed but have a number of improvised elements that materialize as events at the moment of performance, with the audio-spectators' reception.Eisner also discusses the concept of intermediality, which focuses on how various media converge in interwoven zones, adopting and translating syntactic and conceptual elements of other media, leading to dynamic reciprocal influences. Intermediality studies transpositions, transformations, and adaptations that occur within and between the constituted media of each event. The medium represents the material and sensible dimension of communication, conditioning the way we receive a message. In the intermedial perspective, the medium is understood in three dimensions: as a tool, a carrier, and a source of sensory stimulation.In summary, the article provides insights into the technological and conceptual challenges involved in designing electronic instruments for live performances, particularly in the context of the Lumínico project's scenic realization, which relies on the interplay of audio and visual media. The author argues that this intermedial approach challenges traditional notions of artistic work and audience participation, emphasizing the need for new strategies to integrate digital media into live performances.Next, the article by Rosalia Soria Luz addresses the challenges and processes of composing three electroacoustic pieces for the project Against Racism in Mexico. The project aims to raise awareness about racism and to call for a change in Mexican society. The author conducted interviews to include fragments of people's views as an essential part of the pieces and make them accessible to broad audiences. The introduction presents the context of the project, including a brief review of racism in Mexico and activist music in Mexico.The author argues that the pieces may have documentary qualities that depict racism in Mexico. The article sheds light on the presence of discrimination due to ethnicity and skin color in Mexico, which affects access to education, employability, and mobility. Soria highlights the disadvantaged opportunities for people of darker skin color, especially for people of indigenous origins, and emphasizes that Mexico is a country of unnoticed pigmentocracy, and the idea of “improving the race” is a prominent topic in daily conversations. Activist music has played an important role in numerous famous movements around the world, and the article emphasizes its role in calling for a change in society. The article concludes by discussing the reception of the works and their potential impact on society.The last two articles are devoted to Brazil, a country about which, for multiple reasons, even Latin Americans know little concerning its artistic development in the field of electroacoustic music. These two articles could hardly provide greater contrast. The first, by de Almeida Ribeiro and de Oliveira, provides a mapping out of Brazilian electroacoustic music studios from 1960 to 2000, with a focus on those that emerged from universities and other institutions. The authors argue that music studios are cultural territories, and they describe the particularities of electroacoustic music studios in Brazil, where composers had to adapt ordinary spaces for their activities. The concept of gambiarra, a sort of Brazilian DIY culture, is introduced as a characteristic of the Brazilian electroacoustic music scene. The authors also discuss the role of the emerging studios in hosting critical disagreements with the military dictatorship, which led to censorship and people losing their jobs in institutions.To create the timeline of the main trajectories of composers, institutions, and events related to the development of studios, the authors adopted a selection criterion similar to the snowball sampling research method to analyze and quantify the data. They investigated a diversity of documents, such as journal articles, books, academic articles, recordings, and websites, in addition to conducting a series of interviews with composers.The authors highlight the importance of distinguishing music studios from a mere physical space, arguing that electroacoustic music studios are cultural territories with their local characteristics. They suggest that by appropriating a space, the actor territorializes the space, which is essentially the place of exchange between people and their culture.Finally, the last article of the issue, by Flo Menezes, discusses the emergence and evolution of electroacoustic music in Brazil, with a particular focus on the Studio PANaroma at São Paulo State University (UNESP). The author maintains that the development of this type of music is fraught with challenges, including the need for extensive technological infrastructure to realize works for loudspeakers, and difficulties in establishing institutions to support electroacoustic music. This is particularly true in emerging countries like Brazil, where the creation of such institutions is contingent on a range of economic, political, and ideological factors.Menezes notes that Brazilian culture has always been open to foreign influences but has also been characterized by a strong nationalist current that has often opposed internationalist trends. This tension is reflected in the music scene, where a conservative strain has traditionally held sway. Nonetheless, there have been pockets of avant-garde experimentation, which resist this conservatism and draw on Brazil's tradition of cultural anthropophagy—the process of digesting and assimilating foreign cultural elements.The article concludes by noting that this anthropophagic attitude can be both liberating and problematic, as it risks creating an indiscriminate cultural hybridism that dilutes the artistic traditions it seeks to integrate. Nonetheless, the article suggests that electroacoustic music remains a vibrant and innovative field in Brazil, despite its challenges.—Rodrigo F. Cádiz and Federico Schumacher, Guest Editors

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