Katherine Reece Wrote:
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> David Lubman Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
>
> > Another Andean connection: A young Chillean
> > professor of anthropology (can't recall his name
> > at the moment) wrote of an Andean spirit godess
> > invisibly present at noisy waterfalls and streams.
> > There to insinuate new melodies into the minds of
> > nearby flute players. Sound and culture.
>
>
> I would think that this would tie into the general
> worship of what could be termed water gods in the
> Andes. As I'm sure you know, the ocean side of
> the Andes is very dry, hardly any rainfall at all
> and certainly not enough to be counted on for
> agriculture. Their agriculture was all done with
> irrigation canals branching off streams and rivers
> that flow down towards the coast from the
> mountains. Andeans still march up to mountain
> tops playing their flutes and making offerings to
> the mountain gods for water.
>
> I also play flute, both modern flutes and various
> native American flutes, and the association of
> flute music with waterfalls just on the sound
> alone isn't surprising either. I've never heard
> of a specific Andean noisy waterfall/stream
> goddess, I'm going to see if I can find anything
> on this in the databases, I'd love to read about
> it. If you happen to remember or run across the
> anthropologist's name please let me know.
>
> Kat
>
> Ma'at Moderator
>
Kat: I found the material from 1997-1999. The Andean spirit is named "Sereno". I think you'll be pleased with this. His name is Claudio Mercado. And yes he is a fluteplayer among his other musical talents. It was easy to locate him because of a big presence on the internet.
[
www.oysi.org]
Please watch the second video (2 min, 5 sec) at that site, captioned "Claudio Mercado singing to the waters at the Pichimuchina concert "Red flow, Pichimuchichango". Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombi". From what you wrote, I feel certain that you'll like it.
Claudio first wrote to me in 12/97.
"I am a Chilean archaeologist and ethnomusicologist, and I'm working on acoustics and anthropology, acoustics and special states of consciousness in communities in central Chile, acoustic perception in Andean communities,and sound and rock art."
"In the Museum (Museo Chileno de Arte Precolumbino, Santiago, Chile) I work also with Jose Perez de Arce. He is a specialist in precolumbian musical instruments. We have worked together for eight years."
Claudio was unable to participate in that special session of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) that I was planning. He did submit that pertinent paper about Sereno and the waters to a session on rock art acoustics (organized by Steven Waller) at the ARARA meeting in Ripon, Wisconsin. Claudio cancelled to be present at the birth of his first child. Here's the citation from the Ripon, meeting:
Steven Waller: "Rock Art Acoustics in the Past, Present, and Future". 1999 International Rock Art Congress Proceedings, (2002) Volume 2:11-20.
5. Claudio Mercado: "The Sound of Rock Art, the 'Sereno' and the Acoustic of Northern Chile" (abstract read in absentia)
Claudio is very friendly to our hypothesis about acoustics at Chichen Itza. He wrote back after reviewing my material on the chirped ech as follows:
"I visited the ceremonial centers of Mexico. Not only Mayan centers, but also in Teotihuican. People there told me they call this echo "la cola del quetzal" (the quetzal's tail). When my colleague Jose Perez de Arce was there, people told him the same thing. It's one more confirmation of your hypothesis."