Stages in Art (music)

Music has always been an inseparable part of my life. From a childhood in which I played and experimented with different instruments, to the beginning of my involvement with musical groups in 1986, as a drummer in rock bands, until 1990 when I started my stage as a soloist in electroacoustic music.

My first experience in a group was with singer, guitarist and childhood friend Luis Orlando Delgado. It was also the moment when I bought my first drum set and began a short period of lessons with a good teacher, Armando Garcia, with whom I later became good friends. This group had a very short run. After its disintegration, I return home with my instrument where I continue practicing on my own.

During this period I started to forget about the score and concentrated on what we called in spanish "fusilar" or making a drum cover (which is to play the drum close enough as the reference, so the audience can recognize it is a cover). It seemed to be an appropriate method for me, because in a very short time I noticed that I was making progress. But these good results were not only the consequence of my effort, but also of the indescribable and selfless support of friends like Alberto and Omar Gómez. During all this time, they provided me with the best references to cover after a careful selection work. Among them: Emerson Lake and Palmer, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Kiss and many more. But it wasn't until I met the Canadian band Rush and their drummer Neil Peart that I discovered something so special, something with which I identified myself in such a way, that from that moment on my goal was not only to cover all of Rush's records, but also to try to configure my drums in the same way. That seemed crazy, not only because of the amount of components, but also because we were in Cuba. Thanks to a mechanism made by Alberto, I had the possibility of having a double pedal to simulate two bass drums. I also made, with the support of friends, some components such as: sound tree, cowbell, small and big drums, even a tubular bell made with cannon bullets shells. In the end, the goal was achieved, not only from the point of view of configuration, but it was also very satisfying to have covered pieces like Tom Sawyer, Red Barchetta and even YYZ, in its studio and live versions (including the drum solo).

I was contacted by the band Paisaje con Río. At that time the band was composed by: Otto Caballero (piano), Iván Domenech (guitar), Ernesto Romero (bass and lyrics), Julio (accompanying guitar). After a not very long period of time, we all agreed that my style did not fit with that of the band, and so I left it, although without losing contact with its members, especially with Otto and Iván, nor with the presentations and rehearsals of the band. I even participated many times as assistant and guest musician in their Peña at the Writers Home of October 10th, in Havana City.

I was contacted by a synfonic rock band from Santiago de las Vegas. Unfortunately, here my story was even shorter, after a few rehearsals the band leader had serious health problems and it was all over.

I joined the rock band Océano, which belonged to the Casa de Cultura of 10 de Octubre (the municipality where I was born). It was composed at that time by Juan Carlos Ayón (guitar), Carlos (bass) and José Manuel (keyboards). We had our own songs, even I was able to insert one of my own. We also played classic rock songs, the most outstanding one: Hijos de Caín by Barón Rojo. We did several concerts in various locations, in addition to those programmed by the Casa de la Cultura.

I participated as a guest drummer in the rock band Trébol, performing concerts that we called "guerrilla". The guitarist of this band, someone I met in Paisaje con Río: Iván Domenech, in my opinion, one of the best rock guitar players on the island (maybe that's why they called him Iván the Terrible). They played well-known songs by bands like Van Halen, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin and when I was invited, songs by Rush.

It was a period of very good experiences, of hard work and team building that little by little was coming to an end, especially for me, because it was already very difficult to transport a drum kit with so many components. Maybe it was the first sign of destiny that pushed me to become a soloist.

First of all, I cannot leave without mentioning that my beginning in this stage and subsequent development would not have been possible without the unconditional support of my good friend Otto Caballero, who was at my disposal at all times, providing me with very useful indications as well as the instruments that allowed me to channel my musical ideas.

It was my first music work with synthesizers: Kawai K1, Kawai Q-80 sequencer and a lot of patience from Otto. This work was never presented in public, and can even be considered as lost material, although I still have the Q-80 diskette with the MIDI files.

The opportunity arises for a multimedia exhibition at the Arabs House Museum in Old Havana. To compose and record the ambient music theme, in addition to Otto's usual support, I counted on Armando Garcia's willingness to conceive and record the traditional percussion. This recording was made at Radio Progreso's studios, under the baton of Ángel Larramendi and his assistant. On the day of the recording, I also had the support of Eudaldo Antúnez (from the band Monte de Espuma), who provided me with another synthesizer (DX7) that came in handy for the format and conditions of the recording. This moment was immortalized by my friend and photographer Angelito.

For more details click here: Man through time exhibition.

This Peña was the stage where I presented several of my works as a soloist of electroacoustic music. Here I also collaborated and shared the stage with other artists such as Fernándo Rodríguez (the author of the famous song "Ese Hombre Está Loco" (This man is crazy) sung by Tanya in Monte de Espuma); Vanito (the current Vanito Brown) and Athanai.

This work was composed by themes in which my evident influence of Jean Michel Jarre, Vangelis, and a little less of Kitaro, could be noticed, complemented by a strong percussion, full of details, whose influence was undoubtedly marked by Neil Peart, Rush's drummer.

This work was presented within the framework of the International Electroacoustic Music Festival in 1993, sponsored by Cuban laboratories such as that of Juan Blanco and Carlos Fariñas at the Computer Palace. On this occasion I shared the stage with Paisaje con Río (once again I played with their instruments), Música de Repuesto, Athanai and Edesio Alejandro y su Banda de Máquinas, among others.

This work was a parenthesis in my musical trajectory. I had the influence of electronic music and the composers mentioned in the '93 stage, but this time I added my experiences with Zen Buddhism, a study I was doing on especially oriental philosophies and psychology. All this together gave birth to: The Hole.

This work was composed and presented at the Computer Palace. This time I used the well-known Cubase sequencer and the Kawai K4 from the Palace's studio. To the electronic sonority was incorporated the bamboo flute, played by Ernesto García, who besides being a great friend, was a Tai Chi teacher.

That experience, which was presented in an unusual form of concert, had the presence of the Isa Contemporary Dance group and the conferences of Father Marciano Garcia of the OCD, who spoke about spirituality; Dr. Juan Enrique Guerrero, who spoke about music therapy and Professor Gabriel Calaforra, with his dissertation on Oriental Art.

I never imagined that this would be my last composition and presentation in Cuba. Thanks to the collaboration of Iván Soca, I was able to record with the Yamaha SY-77 synthesizer and Cakewalk as sequencer, the themes that set the atmosphere for the multimedia exhibition Los Paisajes del Hombre (The Landscapes of Man). I made this exhibition together with the painter Eduardo Valladares, on April 21, 1997 at the International Press Center in Vedado, Havana City.

Incidental music for the exhibition of the painter Eduardo Valladares at the Casa Guayasamín in Old Havana.

3 incidental music themes.

Genre: electronic music.
Instruments: Yamaha SY-77 and Cakewalk sequencer.

These themes recovered the rhythmic power, the electronic sonority in the timbres and atmospheres, to which I added the rock influence of past times.

Incidental music for the exhibition of the painter Pablo Hernández (Pablo H).

Themes:

1- The clock of the Indians
2- The observer

Instruments: Kawai K1, Kawai XD-5 percussion synthesizer and Kawai Q80 sequencer.

The themes recreate the images and situations of his paintings. There is even an influence of Cuban rhythm and a touch of humor in the sounds.

Music for the inauguration of this exhibition within the framework of the IV Havana Biennial.

Ambient music with a touch of Cuban rhythm.
Instruments: Kawai K1, Kawai XD-5 percussion synthesizer and Kawai Q80 sequencer.

As soon as the stability of home and economy allowed me, I made a small investment to continue giving free rein to musical ideas. From the moment I had a computer, I began to try virtual synthesizers and to make very simple things. Then I made a bigger investment that consisted of a MIDI keyboard, the Presonus Studio One virtual studio and an impressive virtual synthesizer from Spectrasonic: the Omnisphere.

Then I started experimenting, creating isolated tracks, which I used as incidental music in the videos I filmed and edited for companies. In other occasions the theme was composed for the video, something that reminded me of my time in Cuba where I did the same for exhibitions or events.

As for presentations or social life as a musician, nothing really compares to what I did in Cuba. My music in Madrid suffered the same symptoms as painting: it seemed that here, it was not going to be my path. I did have the good fortune to meet two Spaniards (Aníbal: guitarist and Antonio: trumpet player, today part of my best friends) who were my link to the world of bands, concerts, meeting like-minded people. With them I even had the chance, after twenty years, to play drums again in one of the venues that bands rent for their rehearsals. There was also the possibility of becoming a drummer in a band, but I don't read sheet music.

Although the experience of the venues was repeated on several occasions, even sometimes spontaneous jam sessions were produced in any place, little by little time, work and our lives, began to make these appointments more distant and therefore when we see each other, we never discard the possibility that soon, we will meet again to play.

For my part, I keep creating my songs and experimenting as much as I can, trying to create or find the opportunity to return to this path.