How can fibres inspire a wonderful creation?
Today I would like to share this space to talk about Music, inspirations and proposals...
An inside view of a wonderful friend of mine: Victor Del Corral.
We met in 1976 in Mexico City while in Elementary School. We spent most of our elementary studies together. Not only he was a very intelligent fellow, he could play tennis and guitar in such a way everyone admired him since then.
Our paths took us else were in our lives. He lives in USA, I live in Canada, and for a long time we knew nothing about us.
For some reason, our paths had to cross again, and this time in such a fabulous way that we are now collaborating together into textile-multi-media projects.
Find below a bit of his work and share the spirit of a great musician and artist!
How did you start in music?
I started studying guitar when I was 7 years old, and continued taking classical guitar lessons when I was 11 years old. After a few years of learning classical guitar I started composing my first own songs
and I enjoyed very much the fact that I could create something new. By that time I also started playing
electric guitar and formed a hard rock band. That was the perfect outlet for me to continue writing songs
and creating new music. A few years later, I started experimenting with synthesizers and got immersed in
electronic music. The possibilities you have composing electronic music are almost endless, and that is
what I have been focusing on during the past years.
What is your favourite style or period in Music?
My favorite music style is 20th century classical music; I always wondered who the new Mozarts and
Beethovens were and got pleasantly surprised when I started digging into contemporary classical music,
finding composers such as Edgar Varese, Luciano Berio, Gyorgi Ligeti, Giacinto Scelsi and Morton
Feldman. Their music goes beyond traditional boundaries and fearlessly explores new sonic territories. I
also listen a lot to electronic ambient and minimalist composers, such as Brian Eno, Taylor Dupree and
Richard Chartier.
Who could you say is your inspiration?
I admire Brian Eno very much, and he is a big influence in my composing style. He is one of the most
creative musicians I know, and his work encompasses music, video production, photography and light
installations.
How do you start your music creations?Where do you get inspiration from?
My main source of inspiration to create music is through paintings. I am a very visual / sensorial
person and I enjoy very much looking at abstract paintings; colors and textures on paintings transmit
me different feelings and emotions, and I try to represent those with music. I often “draw” my pieces
first, as a raw score to be used as the foundation of the composing process. The basic structure of a
piece is represented there and I make notes about the quality and texture of sounds to be used. I love
sound as such, and can play with a sound for hours until I get it right. I think of sounds in terms of color,
temperature and texture, for example, I may want to use an “orange” bass line, a warm yellow string pad,
that can also be round, edged, smooth, rugged, etc.
What do you think about all the technology being incorporated in musical production versus acoustic instruments?
Using technology to compose music is a great advantage in my opinion. In the past, you could only
compose music for one instrument, and in current times, you are able to compose a full score including
many different instruments, and that allows you to be more creative. I have often heard people saying that
with current technology anyone can compose music, but I have a different opinion. Technology expedites
the process and increases the possibilities but it doesn’t make you a better composer. You still have to
have a clear idea of what you want and how you want it to sound to create something beautiful.
I use analog synthesizers to compose, with no predetermined sounds on them and similar in a way to old
manual cameras; you first “sculpt” a sound, choosing a wave types and applying filters to get the sound
you are looking for. Once you have those sounds available, then you start composing using them. It is a
very “hands on” approach although you are using advanced technology in the process.
What type of fusion is most appealing to you?
I love blending electronic and acoustic instruments, having the precision that computers give you
interweaving with the raw feeling and intensity you get playing acoustic instruments. Recording with
acoustic instruments is very interesting and challenging, as you have only one chance to get the piece
right while recording. The subtle imperfections and flaws of the acoustic elements, contrasting with the
structured and very precise electronic elements is what makes the fusion so incredible.
Could you tell us something about your Maquinaria and Prana Music?
I have two very different styles and compositions approaches I use to produce music, thus, the two artistic
names I use.
Maquinaria music can be classified as Ambient Techno. That music is very dynamic and always has a
beat; I use lots of electronic equipment and sound processing to create it, and it conveys ideas about
things that I enjoy in life, like feeling grateful, contrasting simple things vs complex things, feeling upbeat
and radiating, the beauty of created systems, etc. I normally play live instruments, such as guitar of
keyboards on those compositions, and I can think about that music as very colorful. I also experiment a
lot using “new” unusual / experimental sounds that I create for those pieces.
Prana pieces are the other side of the coin, very long pieces that subtly evolve and morph in time, having
no rhythm and no identifiable melodies. Those pieces are created with the purpose of “being” with you
while working on a task or activity on which you want to focus on, but demanding no attention from you
while playing it. I often refer to Prana music as putting a color or a mood into the room you are in. The
music floats around you and gently wraps around yourself.
Do you have any preference between these two, and if so what type of instruments do you like to incorporate?
Mi favorite Maquinaria album is “Higher Worlds” with all pieces having a specific sequence to create a
flow that starts with a slow rhythm, building up until exploding with energy on the 3rd track, then slowing
down on the4th track, starting to gain momentum until a second climax on the 6Th track, and then gently
fading away with the 7th track, which by the way ends with ocean wave sounds, leaving you at peace and
inviting you to listen to it again.
My favorite Prana album is Nada, which is a very quiet and introspective piece. Nada is the sound of the
universe, and our own inner sound is part of that universal Nada. I composed Nada playing 11th and 13Th
chords, and using numbers of the Fibonacci series for intervals and note lengths. I have always been
fascinated with the Golden Ratio and sacred geometry concepts.
Can you share with us what project are you working on now?
I am currently working on a new Maquinaria album entitled “Transformation” and a new Prana album
entitled “Oneness”. The Maquinaria album will be ready by the fall next year, and the Prana album by
Spring next year. I am also starting to work on a project called “A Woven Journal : Memories of a Birch
Tree”, working together with a group of textile and graphic artists and I am very excited about it. The exploration of music through textured inspired images is fascinating. I am so looking forward to creating interesting proposals with this groups of sensitive team.
Where can we listen/buy your music?
Maquinaria and Prana pieces are available on my website (web.me.com/victordelcorral) for people to
listen; I always enjoy sharing my work with people that like the kind of music I compose. All Maquinaria
and Prana music will be available to be purchased at Amazon by January next year.
What meant to you having worked with a group of textile artists?
Using a woven piece as source material to compose music was a great experience. It was the first time I
did it and it allowed me to focus on transmitting the colors, textures and shapes of the textile piece in the
music. I got a lot of input from the project team while composing the score and it was a very rewarding
collaborative effort. I am very pleased with the final result that came out from that project. (Air Project).Our project was selected among many international proposals and was exhibited at the Museum Diego Rivera last May in Mexico City.
What was your feeling about this success?
I feel fortunate for being able to collaborate with the artists involved in the Air Project, which are very
talented, and feel very proud to see our work being presented and shared with a large number of people
in another country.
Should you want to see Victor at his studio and listen to how he creates his wonderful music, enter this site:
https://filesme.com/
I thank Victor for taking some time to answer some questions for all of us. I am sure more than one will be woven into the textures of his music!
Enjoy the music!
