Machu Picchu, Inca Music, Index

Inca Music Video: El Condor Pasa by "Espiritu Andino" in Machu Picchu and Cuzco

Incan melodies,
El Condor Pasa takes flight,
Dancing through the past.

El Condor Pasa is a typical Inca dance, based on authentic Incan folk melodies. Around 1916, Peruvian composer Daniel Alomia Robles notated this popular traditional melody and used it as the basis for an instrumental suite. The English Lyrics, 'If I could, I surely would' words, are by Paul Simon (Simon & Garfunkel)!

Espiritu Andino (Andean Spirit) was created in the summer of 2005 as a response to the vital necessity to keep alive, share, spread and transmit, the philosophy of the Inca culture. The band play the following instruments: Antara, charango, zampona, quena, rondador, bombo and cajon.

  • The antara is a panpipe of only one tier of pipes of cane of different lengths, which expresses each one a height.

  • The charango is a small South American stringed instrument of the lute family, about 66 cm long, traditionally made with the shell of the back of an armadillo. It typically has 10 strings in five courses of 2 strings each, although other variations exist.

  • The siku (Quechua) or zampoña (Spanish), is a traditional Andean panpipe.

  • The quena is the traditional flute of the Andes. Usually made of bamboo, it has 6 finger holes and one thumb hole and is open on both ends.

  • The rondador is a set of chorded bamboo panpipes that produces two tones simultaneously.

  • A bombo is a kind of bass drum used in traditional music in Spain, Portugal and South America.

  • A cajón is a kind of box drum played by slapping the front face (generally thin plywood) with the hands. The cajón is the most widely used Afro-Peruvian musical instrument in the 20th century.

El Condor Pasa by Espiritu Andino
 

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