Charango

The charango is a stringed instrument of the lute family, originally from the Andean region of South America, the charango spread through the area of the Andes Mountains during the Viceroyalty of Peru. It has five pairs of strings, although there are variations with fewer or more strings, but almost always in five orders or sets.

History

Charango Puneño de 1750 en la Portada de la Catedral

The charango was born from the modification of a string instrument of European origin in the Andes region, during the viceregal era. The mandolin is generally mentioned as the instrument on which the making of the charango was based, but the vihuela is also indicated as the basis for its construction. The Bolivian charanguist Ariel Villazón proposes that the charango originated as a result of a direct variant of the timple from the Canary Islands; that is to say that the charango is a modified canary timple. The similarities with the vihuela and the mandolin do not seem to be as strong as those with the timple canario. His hypothesis is based on three key points: first, the construction and size are identical; second, the notes are the same in some of their tunings; and finally, the term "charango" It comes from the Spanish brass bands, which are similar to the tunas or comparsas. Possibly the emigrants from the Canary Islands used to play in their comparsas (charangas) accompanied by timples. Hence the name "charango". Another additional and clear coincidence can be seen in the domed shape of the instrument's sound box. He also suggests that the evolution from timple to charango occurred as stringing materials changed from animal fibers to nylon and others. Surely some builder came up with the idea, when substituting the cat gut strings for nylon ones, to double the number of strings to improve its sonority, the only novelty being the MI octave in the center.

The creation of the charango must have occurred during the years 1700 and 1750 —late stage of the Spanish viceroyalty—, it is from the 18th century (1724) the first record of its use. This is how on the covers of several colonial churches, figures or images of the charango appear. The covers of:

• Church of San Lorenzo de Carangas - It began its reconstruction in 1728 and culminates with its cover in 1744 of the centuryXVIII in the department of Potosí (now Bolivia)
• Basilica Cathedral of San Carlos Borromeo - It began its construction in 1669 and culminates in its cover in 1757 of the centuryXVIII in the department of Puno (Peru)

During the 19th century the charango was apparently only played in rural areas, and was often despised by the inhabitants of the cities, considered an "instrument of the Indians".

In Peru it has always been present since the time of the Viceroyalty of Peru in the southern rural area of the current territory of the Republic of Peru such as: Ayacucho, Cusco, Puno, Moquegua and remains in the cultural manifestation of its districts. However, it entered the cities at the end of the XIX century (1900).

In the region of Potosí, Bolivia, there is the first historical record of the Charango dating from 1814, when a clergyman from Tupiza refers in a report that the Indians "use guitarrillos mui fuis (very their own) with the same liking), which around here they call charangos". It was entering the urban environment and in 1944 the Bolivian Mauro Núñez began to disseminate folk music with charango and also to renew the music of this instrument. Mauro Núñez also dedicated himself to the manufacture of Bolivian charangos. Subsequently, their own styles were created in Andean music until today, which took the charango to concert halls.

The charango has been one of the most studied instruments in Peru by renowned scholars, artists and researchers such as Ricardo Palma (1833-1919), José María Arguedas (1911-1969), Félix Paniagua, Roznel Rios (Teo Rios Hijo Del Sol), Fred Arredondo, Adriel Osorio and Thomas Turino, have paid their attention to him. Starting in 1950 Jaime Guardia began to disseminate charango music from Ayacucho, in Peru, with great success.

Also in the 1950s, charango music would begin to spread successfully in Ecuador. In the fifties and sixties the charango began to become popular in Argentina (Northwest), and also in France and other European countries. Starting in the sixties, musicians and groups from northwestern Argentina and Peru (such as Jorge Milchberg), and Bolivia (such as Ernesto Cavour)[1] with Los Jairas and the Arguedas brothers (Bolivia Manta), William Ernesto Centellas, Eddy Navía, with his tours, took the music of the charango to all of Europe, the United States and Japan. In La Paz (Bolivia), on April 6, 1973, under the fundamental initiative of William Ernesto Centellas, with the collaboration of Abdón Caméo and Ernesto Cavour Aramayo, the Bolivian Charango Society was established, which since 1997, each Two years ago, he organized the National Charango Congress, together with the International Meeting of Charanguists.

In Bolivia, the city of Potosí is recognized as the place of origin "cradle of Charango", while due to its historical and contemporary diffusion the town of Aiquile has the designation of "capital of Charango& #3. 4;. Since 1984, the international charango festival has been held in Aiquile, which brings together national and international performers and manufacturers of this instrument.

In Peru, the city of Ayacucho is recognized as the place of origin of the Charango, a center of recreation for the entire Viceroyalty of Peru in the 19th century XV.

In the past, the charango was made from the wood and shell of the Andean armadillo Chaetophractus nationi. Currently, the armadillo is a threatened species in Peru and Bolivia, there are animal protection laws that prohibit the mistreatment or sacrifice of animals. In this sense and in order not to sacrifice these animals, today the charango is made of wood or even paper.

Origin

Peruvian Theory

After the arrival of the Spanish in Peru in 1532, there was an intercultural syncretism and adaptation of instruments to pre-existing customs, giving rise to the creation of the Peruvian charango. Instrument used and embodied centuries later in cathedrals, paintings, paintings, texts and traditions of Peru.

Year 1725 - General Description of Peru from the book "Peruvian Elisio, Heroic Solemnities 1725" by Gerónimo Fernández de Castro y Bocangel. Doctor of both rights; of the Council, of H. M. his secretary, and groom, Major of His Excellency the Marquis of Castelfuerte José de Armendáriz, Viceroy of Peru. He resided there in the year 1724; he wrote the Relation of the festivities that were celebrated in Lima and Callao to the proclamation of Luis I, for December, January and February of 1724 and 25. -The King had died on August 31. -He also wrote an End of the Party, composed of a sarao with music, and his introduction, for the comedy that the relatives and servants of the viceroy represented in his palace in Callao.

• ("They have [the women][...] special donaire to sing with infuse guitar and dance [...] because I have not seen anything so far that I can not scratch the guitar (who they call 'changango' and zapatear al forma del antiguo canario...").

Year 1782 - A bishop of Ayacucho from the book "Peruvian Traditions - Fifth Series 1893" by Ricardo Palma. Romantic writer, costumbrista, traditionalist, journalist and Peruvian politician, famous mainly for his short historical fiction stories collected in the book Tradiciones peruanas.

• (The Huamanguinos have been and are the most furious charanguists in Peru. There is no one who does not know how to sound the strings of that instrument called charanga, with which the monotonous shoe of the traditional cachua is accompanied. It appears in the text "A bishop of Ayacucho".

Research by Chalena Vásquez (1950-2016) maintains that in the Constitution of the Republic of Peru, the disuse of the baroque guitar that was imported from the Iberian Peninsula, through the Caribbean, resulted in the adoption of the guitar six orders of acoustics and it is from this instrument that the family of Latin American strings composed of the jarana, the cuatro, the tiple and the charango develops. In this sense, it is important to point out that the first documented references to string instruments in Peru belong to chroniclers from the XVII century to the XVIII.

Bolivian Theory

Year 1814 - "A cleric from Tupiza" from the book "Instrumentos musicales aborigines y criollos de la Argentina 1946" by Carlos Vega. In this book he mentions the XIX century, the oldest extant writing reference in Bolivia, ending the colonial stage in the Alto Peru. Vega mentions that a certain canon residing in Tupiza, when answering an existing questionnaire in the Archive of the Indies in Seville, says:

• (Indians use with equal fans of their own guitars, which here they call charangos, but the string instruments are not the primitive ones, but the wind ones).

Recent contributions

Year 1969 - "Lecture: Origin of the Charango" from the book "El Charango, his life, customs and misadventures 1980" by Ernesto Cavour. Writer and renowned Bolivian charanguist, famous mainly for his life dedicated to the investigation of the charango and other traditions. Cavour attaches the presentation of the Bolivian musician Enrique Ponce de Leon, made in Buenos Aires, June 1969, about the probable creator of the charango, however, Ponce de Leon does not go so far as to cite the source of his story, in addition to the inaccurate content of dates by the mention of Gaspar de la Cueva (Spanish sculptor who died in 1640) and the story he tells takes place after 1716. Finally, Ponce de León died in Buenos Aires in 1985, the story says: "At the arrival of Viceroy Morcillo to the city of Potosí in 1716, a tribute was prepared that brought together countless parties, among them a mixed group from Tarapaya, in which the Indian Sayra Willka stands out, an eminent quena musician, who is impressed by the five-string guitar played by the Spaniards, after the holidays, stays in the Imperial Villa of Potosí, to work in the "huaisachinas". Willka would have tried to make a guitar in the Spanish style, after the first failed attempt, he presents this guitar with its own characteristics, instead of & # 34; play & # 34; as the "rasguea" is done in the vihuelas, for which it is called Chajhuanku from Quechua "Que lindo suena o boistero", which over time became a charango."

Year 2007 - Alfredo Soliz Béjar, a musician from Oruro, affirms that there are testimonies about the origin and evolution of this small instrument that is similar to the vihuela de mano. It is taken as a reference to one of the first cultural interactions of Upper Peru in Potosí, currently in the Chayanta and Bustillo regions, after the construction of the church of San Miguel de Uncía, a party was held in his honor, in which he participated the native and Creole population, being one of the instruments used the vihuela "Spanish Guitar", which captivated the natives, this festival was held approximately in 1565. However, the musician does not cite the source of their testimonials.

Likewise, Ernesto Cavour, brings together the history of the colonial portals, highlights The church of San Lorenzo in the city of Potosí Bolivia, began to be rebuilt in 1728, finishing the portal in 1744, where it can be clearly seen between the sun, the moon and stars (indigenous deities) two ambidextrous mermaids playing charangos and between the upper pillars two other musicians, one playing the vihuela de arco and the other a portable harp. Similar mermaids are found in the Church of Salinas de Yocalla, 60 km from the city of Potosí, built between 1743 and opened in 1747. We can also find these churches with mermaids in Peruvian places such as Puno and Cusco. This route of our mermaids from San Lorenzo de Carangas (1744-1747) of the Imperial Villa of Potosí, to Santo Tomas de Chumbivilcas of Cusco (1787-1794) allows us to demonstrate once again the permanent intercommunication during the colony of this "cord Andean". Considering Potosí.

Year 2023 - "Thesis: Colombian Suite for charango and bowed string orchestra: the charango as part of the orchestra", the charanguista Jorge Camargo reviews the incursion of the charango in orchestral formats and proposes a suite for charango and bowed strings, in which the charango is incorporated into Colombian Andean music.

Manufacturing

The most popular charango has a distance of 37 cm between the nut and the bridge. There are also very small charangos (walaycho, maulincho, chillador) and large charangos (ronroco, khonkhota, medium or median charango).

Features

In general, the charango has five double orders, that is, five pairs of strings, although in Peru, in the Ayacucho area, four simple orders are styled: two at each end, and one double, " octave", in the middle. Those with a dug box (or "laukeado", due to its resemblance to the lute), are more common in the Bolivian area, while in Peru they are laminated, which is why it is commonly said that it looks like a small guitar.

But due to the immense variety of charango types, the construction characteristics cannot be generalized.

In Bolivia, since the sixties of the XX century, three sizes have become popular: the walaycho (50 cm), the charango (quirquincho or urban) (60 cm) and the ronroco (75 cm). Other sizes are given as regional variations, or as a result of acoustic experiments by certain players. Variations in size range from half the size of a walaycho, to that of a Spanish guitar. In Bolivia, charango artisans have developed a large number of designs, ranging from the slender figure-eight to slim, angular models. They have even developed models similar to the electric guitar.

In Peru, there is a great variety of types of charango, currently being the cities of Cuzco, Ayacucho and Puno the bastions where its use is massive; In rural areas there are also charangos made of different materials and woods, various numbers of strings, different sizes and shapes. In Lima, where cultural manifestations from all over the country also take place, this instrument is widely used both in national folklore and in modern music groups and orchestras; Currently, the charango from Ayacuchano and Puneño are used as references

Elements

Denomination of the parts of the charango

Charango

Soundbox, neck, headstock, nylon and/or metal strings.

Speaker box

The charango can have several types of soundboard: the armadillo, the hollowed-out wood or "emptied" and that of laminated wood. Traditionally it was made with the shell of an armadillo, typical of the highlands from Oruro and Potosí (Bolivia), to Puno and Cuzco (Peru); but acoustic research and considerations regarding the protection of the armadillo, which is in danger of extinction, have given rise to the use of wood in its manufacture.

• Armadillo: The shell of the armadillo (chua: quirquincho) serves as a resonance box for charangos from different Andean regions. Today there is this type of charango, especially in the region of the north of Bolivia (Potosí and Oruro), but it also exists in Peru. The armadillo is a species in the process of extinction, and therefore the export of armadillo products is prohibited.

• Hollow or "empty" wood: Round resonance box, imitating the shell of the armadillo, but made of hard or semi-hard wood. Sometimes the artisans adorn the box with precious carvings. They are made of one-piece hollow wood puddles, i.e. a box, mast and pea are no longer separate parts.

• Laminated wood: Charango created in Peru, which consists of a box built in a similar way to the Spanish guitar.

For the construction of the charango different woods are used, some are: larch, carob, mahogany, carejeira, cedar, mara, naranjillo, walnut, rosewood, petereby, raulí.

Neck

It's made of wood. Many charango Luthiers prefer “mara” wood for the neck, because it is light and very resistant to climate changes.

Headstock

It's made of wood. Depending on the model, the pegbox is made for vertical (wooden or metal) or horizontal (metal) pegs.

Pegs

There are charangos with metal pegs (mechanical) and also with wood. Especially in rural areas, and for economic reasons, charangos with wooden pegs are widely seen. But also in these regions, those who can get metal pegs, which usually make it easier to precisely tune the instrument. To make wooden pegs of equivalent quality to metal ones, very expensive tools are needed. Charangos with higher quality wooden pegs are hardly found.

Strings

The charango has five pairs of strings. The tables below indicate their location in Roman numerals, starting with the first (I) or thinnest to the fifth (V) or thickest. The tuning of each one is shown in the first column on the left (the latter also in the right side table with staves). Traditionally the strings of the charango were gut. For economic reasons metal strings began to be used and from the 1950s also nylon strings. There are charangos with pairs of mixed, metal and nylon strings.

Tuning

Selection of Charango tunings

The tuning of the different charangos is not something fixed, and varies according to the region and the performer.

• The most diffused tuning is "natural use": mi, la, mi, do, sol. The third pair of strings are at an octave with each other, so that the lower octave is the closest to the second pair of strings and the upper octave is the closest to the fourth pair of strings.
• Especially for walaychos and screaming the "devil job" is used: Yeah, me, yeah, sun, reWith no eighth rope.
• The ronroco it is tuned in different ways. One is mi, la, mi, do, sol with the rope pairs do and sun octated each, while the severe rope of each of these two pairs can be the first or the second.

Table showing the natural tuning mi, la, mi, do, sol of the first twelve frets:

Table showing the same natural tuning (E, A, E, C, G), but in English notation

Different types of charango

Its vibrating chord is usually 37 cm. regular size It is usually strung with nylon strings. Tuning: natural tempera.

Chango

It has 20 nylon strings, which goes in parallel fifths; that is to say, that two strings have the same sound and have only one fret; that is, it only makes 20 sounds. It is made with mahogany wood. It has two tunings: Devil Tempering and Natural Tempering, originally from Bolivia by the Shuarscovliente brothers. It is larger than the typical charango, with a total length of about 104 to 108 cm, and its strings measure between 80 and 84 cm.

Walaycho

Denomination used in Peru, for a charango smaller than the typical charango, made of hollowed-out or armadillo wood. Metal vibrating string less than 30 cm. Tuning: devil temple.

Screecher

Chillador is the name used in southern Peru for a charango smaller than the common charango, made of plywood or armadillo. Vibrating string less than 30 cm, metal strings. Tuning: devil temple. The squeaker carries 12 metal strings in five courses, with the second and fourth orders having three strings each.

Grunt

The ronroco is a development of the Hermosa brothers of the Los Kjarkas group from Cochabamba, Bolivia. Large charango of approximately 80 cm in total size and vibrating string up to 60 cm. Natural tempera tuning but one octave lower and with orders four and five octaves. It is also called ronroco, the charango tuned five semitones lower than the standard charango of natural tempera, (si, mi, si, sol, re), developed by Mauro Núñez as part of his work & #34;Charangología", in the 40s.

Sonko charango

Large charango the size of a ronroco, heart-shaped (sonko means 'heart' in Quechua). It has thirteen or more strings. Use different tunings. It is a new development that began in the seventies, by Gerardo Yáñez.

Khonkhota

It is a rustic instrument from the rural regions of the departments of Potosí (north), Oruro and Cochabamba. Its sound box is made of laminated wood. It only has five frets. The total size is 90 cm, the vibrating string is 65 cm. It has 8 strings in 5 orders of which the second and third consist of a single string. Of the double chord orders two of the three, or none, is octaved. One of several tunings is mi, la, re, si, do.

Medium or “medium” charango

The median is a Chuquisaqueño charango from the rural regions. It exists in various sizes between 50 cm and 95 cm in total size with the vibrating string between 33 cm and 65 cm. The normal median (large size) is tuned in natural tempera but one octave lower than the common charango. The two third order strings are tuned one octave lower than the first order.

Charango from Ayacuchano

The first Charango from the year 1540 is with a laminated wood resonance box, with 6 strings in 5 orders. It is generally smaller than the common charango. The third order is octave, the other orders are single-stringed. The tuning corresponds to the natural temple. I have the reference of an eminent charanguista already deceased (2007) of Coracoreño origin, from the south of Ayacucho, province of Parinacochas; whose name is Angel Villanueva Fernández, who from the age of 5 his Father Mariano Villanueva Ramírez, a merchant from the city of Coracora, took him to a famous fair in the place of Incahuasi, an archaeological site of this province, there he sat the child to make him play and make his business stand out, since then he practiced his art in the legacy of the Ayacucho charango with 5 frets and five strings; the famous temperate was to sound like "San -to Do - min - go" on the five strings, which to date is used. I was able to listen to interpretations of tango, waltzes and the national anthem, in others as well as huaynos and carnivals from the area, and it indicated that the yaravíes could not be accompanied with this instrument because the voice it provided was out of tune for this genre.

Charango Chillador

Charango with laminated wood resonance box, used in the Arequipa region, Peru; with fifteen strings in five orders. The strings are metallic, and there are two tunings; the first is do♯, fa♯, do♯, la, mi, octave the second string of the second order; another tuning is natural temple.

Moqueguano Charango

It has 20 strings, five orders with four strings each; the third order is octave.

Bass Charango

Her height is 155 cm. The vibrating string is 87 cm and the height is 82 cm. Its large sound box is made of laminated wood and has 6 strings (1 first, 1 second, 2 thirds, 1 fourth and 1 fifth). Its tuning is si, mi, si, si, sol, re (tuning in mi) written in bass clef.

Hatun charango

The Peruvian hatun charango, with seven string orders, was designed by Federico Tarazona and built in Lima by luthier Fernando Luna, it has six simple string orders and a double order tuned to the octave as in the traditional charango.

Changolina

The 'changolina' is an informal name given to a charango with a mandolin box whose creator is the Cusco luthier Sabino Huaman, one of the most renowned charango luthiers in Peru and Cuzco.

Cuscoan Charango

Of different shapes and sizes depending on the area.

Puno Charango

Shape and style according to the area played, it is like this: Large for accompaniment or bass, small for playing kjajelos, strings of different characteristics, handmade, artistic, stylized, etc., all of them with their own names and also shell-shaped.

Peruvian Viceregal Charango

Primitive form of the Peruvian charango, here are some varieties: 1. Similar to a small guitar with several strings, 2. With a curved terminal neck, 3. With several strings with a predominance of a central string, 4. Small with notches on the box, 5. Small pear-type with small handle, 6. Small with small central hole.

Creole Charango

Small Peruvian charango in the shape of a guitar with 5 courses of strings.

Charango Arequipeño

Peruvian Charango that measures 103 to 107 cm and its strings measure between 78 to 83 cm made with guayacán wood.

Apurimeño Charango

Peruvian Charango that measures 56 to 58cm and its strings measure between 48 to 50cm made of Shihuahuaco wood.

Charango Chumbivilcano

Peruvian Charango measures 100 to 102cm. It has 10 thin metal strings. There is also a round lid and it has Easter tempera tuning.

Festivals

National Charango Meeting

Organized by the Peruvian-Japanese Association in conjunction with the Cuerdas Al Aire Association, it is celebrated in the month of August each year, in Lima, at the headquarters of the Peruvian-Japanese Cultural Center. It has the participation of various national artists who spread the charango in Peru and abroad such as Julio Humala (Coracora), Omar Ponce (Puno), Percy Rojas (Huánuco), Yoshiro Gonzáles (Ayacucho), Fredy Gómez (Ayacucho) and Los Cholos group.

Aiquile International Charango Festival

It is the most important charango festival in Bolivia, it is organized by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the municipality of Aiquile (Cochabamba) where it brings together hundreds of national and international performers.

Titiqaqa Charango Festival

It is held annually in the city of Puno and has the participation of regionally, nationally and internationally recognized charanguists.

Warmi Charango Festival

Event that brings together female exponents of the charango and that is organized by the Folklore University Center (CUF) of the Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos.

International Charango Festival

It is held in Peru and it is hosted on a rotating basis, meaning that each edition has a different host city so that the culture of the charango is spread throughout the country. The last edition, edición XI, was held in the city of Arequipa, between August 1 and 5, 2017, and meant a great deployment in four different stages with the participation of charanguistas from Puno, Ayacucho, Lima, Cuzco and Arequipa, and international guests from Argentina, Bolivia and Chile.

Unlike previous editions, the Arequipa Symphony Orchestra participated in the XI edition to pay homage to this cultural heritage musical instrument of the Nation.

International Charango Meeting

It takes place in the Peruvian city of Cuzco, at the end of August, and is organized by the National University of San Antonio Abad of Cusco, through the Social Projection Unit of the Welfare and Social Responsibility Department.

Sarawja Festival - Golden Charango Contest

It takes place in the districts of Carumas, Cuchumbaya and San Cristóbal Calacoa, belonging to the Province of Mariscal Nieto, located in the department of Moquegua, between the months of March and April of each year and is organized by the peasant communities and annexes of the aforementioned districts with the support of local and regional authorities.

In addition to concerts, the event also includes exhibitions, talks, exhibitions, workshops and conferences, and has the participation of delegations from different regions of Peru and different South American countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, United States, among others.

Some exponents of the charango

Gallery

Types of Charango

Walaycho Traditional Charango