Mariae is a reel-to-reel tape composition that takes It’s name from the anonymous composition Sancta Mariae, in the Valdés Codex, one of the few polyphonic compositions written in the Nahuatl language. The title, Mariae, references the Nahuatl genitive form, which is commonly mispronounced as "Marie." The correct pronunciation, “maria e,” highlights the linguistic nuance often overlooked when working with music that would generally be expected to be written in latin.
The project integrates an unpublished recording of Francisco López Capillas, the first known composer born in the Americas (Mexico City, 1608), with samples created from pre-Hispanic instruments. These recordings were manipulated on a reel-to-reel tape machine, further emphasizing the archival and material nature of sound preservation. The compositional structure means to follow a SATB arrangement in some parts, reflecting the polyphonic choral methods characteristic of López Capillas' work and those of the european tradition.
This project aims to reflect on the lack of pre-Hispanic musical notation, imagining how a ritualistic fusion of pre-Hispanic and colonial musical traditions coud sound in an imaginary context. By using tape, the work evokes the archival materiality of sound, offering a reflection on the cultural memory and sonic intersections between two worlds in which sound or music can intersect as a universal lenguage.
A notable element is the inclusion of Maria Sabina's voice, in the end which repeats the main theme of the composition. This addition came from a recording discovered while digitizing sound heritage archives at the National Sound Library (Fonoteca Nacional). Sabina’s voice serendipitously hummed the same melody, enhancing the piece’s exploration of sound as a shared, universal language.
Cover art: digital collage by shshellsh
Clepsydra is an electroacoustic exploration of time, texture, and sonic transformation, derived solely from a single object: a water-filled cup. By manipulating the cup through varied water levels, striking, and circular motion, the composition evokes the ancient water clock—the clepsydra—as a metaphor for the passage of time. This circular motion, akin to the face of a clock, becomes a sonic gesture that bends the perception of time, free from the constraints of rhythm or meter.
The piece is built on an intimate relationship with the materiality of sound. Water, as an element, is fluid and formless, embodying both the transient and eternal aspects of time. Through electroacoustic manipulation and the use of a reel-to-reel machine, the cup’s inherent sound transforms and evolves, expanding its sonic possibilities. Recorded onto a four-channel archival tape,tha contained the recording of a voice at a speed that the recorder rendered unrecognizable, further dismantling linear temporality.
Clepsydra plays with the idea that time, like sound, is malleable. It flows, circulates, and reshapes itself,
A temporal landscape.
Cover art: shshellsh
Aeolipile is a demonstrative cluster polyphonic composition prototype for an installation to be presented in 2025 at the Universum, in collaboration with the experimental physics lab at U.N.A.M. The installation consists of eight spherical sculptures modeled after the ancient Greek aeolipile, the first recorded steam engine. Each sphere contains two pipes through which air passes to produce different tones, all of which can be controlled via MIDI to perform pre-composed pieces.
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The recording head wand is a prototype currently in development—a handheld tape head device that allows for manual recording directly onto magnetic tape. With this tool, users can precisely control where and how sound is recorded, offering a more tactile and experimental approach to tape manipulation.
