Alternatively, we have a subdirectory into our ftp server which have files in the rm format of the RealNetworks. Normally these rm files have very minor size than the mp3 ones.

q

A standard siqu have 15 pipes of bamboo in two rows going from smaller to greater diameter, hitched in scale, that upon blowing them they emit specific musical notes . The first row possesses 8 pipes (irpiri = leader), while the second row possesses 7 pipes (arkiri = follower). But it is common to name these rows by the aymara verbal roots irpa and arka. The melodies of the siqu are executed using the technique of the musical dialogue musical between the irpiri and the arkiri. In Aymara this technique is called Jaqtasiña Irpirimpi Arkirimpi ( = Interaction between the leader and the follower).
Presently, the siquris are groups who simultaneously play and dance their music. In some groups, each musician/dancer plays the siqu with one hand and a small bass drum with the other hand while he shakes his body. It is interesting notice the similarity in the sound and the form with the panflute(fistula), which has Greek origin, in any case the principles are the same but their soul-sounds and soul-rhythms are very differents.

The following mp3 pieces are a proof of that and are performed by Peruvian aymara siquris from Camilaca and Cairani villages at Tacna departamento.
Llora zampoña, llora (2.39 Mb) copyrighted by Angel Serrano and performed by Conjunto Zampoñas de Camilaca(Qamilaka)
Ponchito Blanco (2.66 Mb) copyrighted by Angel Serrano and performed by Conjunto Zampoñas de Camilaca(Qamilaka)
Flor del Sur (2.22 Mb) copyrighted by Santiago Mamani and performed by Conjunto Zampoñas de Cairani(K'airani)

Lakitas

It is a variant of the siqu practiced by the aymaras of Chile. Lakita is a Aymara word which means either "distributed" or "grouped". In according to Braulio Avila Hinostroza, a Chilean student of andean music, the meaning used for "lakita" would be "distributed". This would be because the distribution of the musical scale of lakita into the rows IRA and ARKA. In some regions, near the cities, the lakita siqu is made from PVC, instead of the bamboo. The following mp3 piece is a contribution of Braulio who kindly sent it for this page
Danza de las Kullakas (2.42 Mb) with popular copyright and performed by Ballet Folclórico Nacional de Chile

Lawa K'umu

By its melancholic notes this kind of music/dance is supposed to have a funeral origin. However, nowadays it is performed at carnival time. The main musical instrument is made from the log cortex of the Qantuta tree and the name lawa k'umu, which means twisted stick, describes how this instrument is. The following piece is performed by a Peruvian aymara group from Soq'a village (Acora) at Puno departamento.
Qantuta (6.85 Mb) with popular copyright and performed by Conjunto Chacareros Qantuta de Soq'a

Tarqa

The tarqa is a square shaped aymara musical instrument made from pine wood which have either six or eigth holes in its middle part. A group of players of tarqa is called tarqada(spanish form). Considering the oldness of the other aymara musical instruments the tarqa can be regarded as a young one. It is believed that since its ivention, this instrument, has a little more than one hundred years.
If you are a linguist interested on Aymara, then you must remember the jesuit Ludovico Bertonio and its XVII century work, which is the masterpiece of the Aymara linguistics. Then, immediately, you will associate to Bertonio the place where he worked on Aymara: Juli. Today Juli is a small peruvian town at Titicaca shores, we think with the same inspiring landscape as Bertonio's time. Precisely the following tarqa piece is performed by a group from Juli at Puno departamento.
Carnaval Tarqa de Juli (5.71 Mb) with popular copyright and performed by Tarqada Mixturitas de Juli

Khirkhinchu(Charango)

All the historic vestigial traces indicate that for the ancient Aymara people was unknown the string instruments. The Spaniards introduced them the guitarra, but in some place of the Titicaca plateau and in some instant of the XVII century, was invented the khirkhinchu, a small cousin of the guitarra, which nowadays is most known as charango. The Aymara word khirkhinchu means armadillo which is a typical Southamerican small animal with a bone-like material shell on its back. Precisely this shell was, in the early days, used as the resonance box of the charango and it had either 10 or 12 strings arranged in 5 or 6 pairs.
Kajelo(q'ajilu) (2.11 Mb, mp3) With popular copyright and performed by the Theodoro Valcarcel orchestra from Puno.
Lamento del Misti (2.7 Mb, mp3) With popular copyright and performed by the Trío Yanahuara from Arequipa.

Brass bands

Since the launch of this website (Oct 1994) the image of the masked devil dancer was in the front page of Aymara Uta. Many questions were made by many visitors about the relation of this picture and Aymara. Presently the devil dancer is no more our symbol, but thanks to mp3 technology we have its soundtrack and the natural responses to such old questions about the Aymara-Diablada link. This "dance of the devils", DIABLADA, has its origins at Oruro (uru uru) mines as a result of the both Aymara/Uru myth of the underground devil (anchanchu) and the Christian history of the fight of Archangel Michael against the seven sins. The official music for this dance are performed by brass bands which are so popular among the Aymara people.
Diablada (4.6 Mb) With popular copyright and performed by Banda Pagador de Oruro
Mix Saya - Caporal (7.0 Mb) With popular copyright and performed by Banda Imperial de Oruro

Opera style

In the 1950s the peruvian singer Yma Sumac made a great hit for American audiences. She was considered as the "QUEEN of the five octave". Her voice had a wide range of frequencies as never seeing (hear) before. There are a lot of internet sites, on her biography, her music and other related stuff, which you can find with your favorite searcher. In the meantime enjoy her majestic voice adapted for the following piece of Aymara music.
Chankani Aru (El Canto del Gallo (2.93 Mb) Copyrighted by M. Vivanco and performed by Yma Sumac.