"Excellent musical insight and analysis. . . . The documented equation of this fascinating society is now considerably balanced with Olsen's study of the art/mystic domain of the Warao."--Steven Loza, University of California, Los Angeles
"An excellent balance of musical, cultural, historical, and mythological analysis. . . . A major contribution to the organology of Latin American Native American music-cultures."--John M. Schechter, University of California, Santa Cruz
Cultural tragedy often accompanies the death of biological species in the South American rain forests. As fragile as...

In the first comprehensive synthesis of Andean musical instruments, Dale Olsen breathes life and humanity into the music making of pre-Hispanic cultures in the northern and central Andes. He assesses three decades' worth of anthropological findings from diverse collections, museums, tombs, and temples. Although the instruments, ranging from the ceramic flutes of the Sinu and Tairona and the panpipes of the Paracas and Nasca to the Moche's rattles, drums, and conch shell trumpets, are analyzed in great detail, Olsen's is original among studies of pre-Columbian music in that it takes an...

In the first comprehensive synthesis of Andean musical instruments, Dale Olsen breathes life and humanity into the music making of pre-Hispanic cultures in the northern and central Andes. He assesses three decades' worth of anthropological findings from diverse collections, museums, tombs, and temples.

Recognizing music as a vital social and cultural force, each volume of this set of book on geographical areas of world music focuses on a single region and examines the role of music in the lives, arts and culture of its people. This volume describes the essential fabric of South and Central America and then explores the traditions, performance practices, and themes that bind the music together into a dynamic tapestry of art and daily life. The coverage provides an overview of the region, reviews its music heritage and scholarship, and describes specific musical cultures, genres, and...

In many places around the world, flutes and the sounds of flutes are powerful magical forces for seduction and love, protection, vegetal and human fertility, birth and death, and other aspects of human and non-human behavior. This book explores the cultural significance of flutes, flute playing, and flute players from around the world as interpreted from folktales, myths, and other stories--in a word, "flutelore." A scholarly yet readable study, World Flutelore: Folktales, Myths, and Other Stories of Magical Flute Power draws upon a range of sources in folklore, anthropology, ethnomusicology,...

In many places around the world, flutes and the sounds of flutes are powerful magical forces for seduction and love, protection, vegetal and human fertility, birth and death, and other aspects of human and non-human behavior. This book explores the cultural significance of flutes, flute playing, and flute players from around the world as interpreted from folktales, myths, and other stories--in a word, "flutelore." A scholarly yet readable study, World Flutelore: Folktales, Myths, and Other Stories of Magical Flute Power draws upon a range of sources in folklore, anthropology, ethnomusicology,...