Fabricio Watanay

Hosted by Rice University's Music, Mind and Body Lab, Medical Humanities Research Institute, and Moody Center for the Arts.

An evening exploring the convergence of ancestral Indigenous knowledge, music, and contemporary neuroscience. Through shamanic drumming, live performance, and EEG, brain signals become sound and visual expression. This event takes place at Rice University's Moody Center for the Arts.

Followed by a panel discussion with Dr. Jose L. Contreras-Vidal, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Dr. Fabricio Cavero, and Dr. Anthony Brandt (moderator).

Free, general admission

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I. Shamanic Drumming

Performed while wearing the EEG to display brainwave activity on the projector, this piece demonstrates the relationship between rhythmic drumming and entrancement, drawing on Michael Harner's concept of Core Shamanism alongside Dr. Cavero's testimonial experience and observations of the psychoacoustic effects of drums and rattles in Indigenous Andean rituals. As a postdoctoral scholar in Dr. Harris's No Pain Lab at UC Irvine's SSIHI, Dr. Cavero extends this inquiry through biosignal analysis, using EEG and ECG data to examine how rhythmic entrainment shapes perception and pain modulation. This section introduces psychoacoustics and situates it within concert music, bridging Indigenous ritual practice, biosignal research, and live per for mance.

II. Silent Meditation

Echoing Cage's 4'33"; while wearing the EEG or ECG to shape subtle sounds across the quadraphonic system, demonstrating how biosignals (brainwaves and heart rate) can control sound effects and be applied in artistic performance.

III. Convergent Musical Performance

Demonstrating brainwaves and heart rate controlling visual acoustical effects:
- Overtone singing
- Arrangement of "Omnia Sol Temperat" (from Carmina Burana) for voice and charango
- Rachmaninoff's Vocalise on viola
- Danza Saqra de Paucartambo on viola

IV. Panel Discussion and Q&A

Moderator Dr. Anthony Brandt leads a panel discussion with Dr. Jose L. Contreras-Vidal, Miguel Harth-Bedoya, and Dr. Fabricio Cavero.
 

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UH Neuroengineering Team

Lianne Sánchez-Rodríguez
Yoshua E. Lima-Carmona
Maxine A. Pacheco-Ramírez
Aime J. Aguilar-Herrera
Debolina Das