This article reviews the compositional practice of Peruvian electroacoustic music in the 1960s, to investigate the methods and sources of influence on music and new technologies of that time. It therefore explores local expressions and national and regional identities through elements of folk and traditional music used in these practices. The analysis of this repertoire, from a cross-cultural perspective, sheds new light on the history and originality of experimental art and music in Peru, as well as on Peruvian ethnomusicology.

Gambiarra is a popular Brazilian expression that describes an improvised and informal way of solving an everyday problem when needed tools or resources are not available. Since the turn of the 21st century, the term gambiarra has been a part of Brazilian art discourse. This article first analyzes the genealogy of the word gambiarra, including its global and local contexts, and then looks at the use of gambiarra in the production of music and sound art instruments, or gambioluthiery.

This article examines the exhibition series Sound Garden (1987–1994) as a first step toward analyzing the sound-based artwork exhibitions of late-1980s Japan. The article begins with an outline of the series and the types of artworks exhibited therein, followed by an examination of the context in which Sound Garden was created by considering prototypes that predate the exhibition series. Finally, the authors discuss related exhibitions and highlight the educational context that inspired these presentations.

The author takes a close look at the origins of the terms sound art and sound installation, identifying additional historical sources and addressing misconceptions about their origins. The author then focuses on two early sound works by Max Neuhaus, a sound art pioneer who is frequently said to be the creator of the first sound installation.

This historical reminiscence details the evolution of a type of electronic music called “computer network music.” Early computer network music had a heterogeneous quality, with independent composers forming a collective; over time, it has transitioned into the more autonomous form of university-centered “laptop orchestra.” This transition points to a fundamental shift in the cultural contexts in which this artistic practice was and is embedded: The early work derived from the post-hippie, neo-punk anarchism of cooperatives whose members dreamed that machines would enable a kind of utopia.

In the medieval tradition of ballads, a recurring theme is that of transformation. In a staged concert for chamber orchestra, singers and dancers called Varelser och Ballader (Beings and Ballad), we explored this theme using ballads coupled with contemporary poetry and new music. The performance made use of custom-made digital musical instruments, using video analysis and large-scale physical interfaces for transformative purposes.

The author describes the use of memory as a compositional process in his recent orally and digitally transmitted compositions.