Since pre-Hispanic times, societies living in the central Andes, including Bolivia, Peru, northern Ecuador and southern Colombia, have viewed the world, nature and the cosmos as a combining of opposing forces, which are nevertheless complementary.

This view manifested itself in music in the use of 'male and female' instruments: the sweet sound of Pan's pipes alongside the sharp, dissonant tone of ocarinas, or the strident whistle of trumpets compared with the deep sound of shells. And the same was true with dancing, where the jingling of metal rattles tied to the ankles marked the beat in the different ceremonies and rituals relating to rain and drought, heat and cold, planting and harvesting. Everything had a dual meaning.

Wind instruments in general and Pan's pipes in particular played a prominent role in ritual. They were played by the oldest people and those with the greatest musical knowledge, and their sound was therefore associated with rank. Archaeological figures made of clay and portraying important persons sitting on benches and playing this instrument are common in Nariño and Carchi.

Pan's pipes are by nature a dual instrument, since their harmony and overall musical integrity depend on a combination of two pipes which complement each other. Two musicians are needed at the same time to play them, and these have to agree on the notes that each will play in order to produce the melodies. The goldsmiths of Nariño and Carchi portrayed this concept of duality by making Pan's pipes out of gold and silver, metals associated with male and female duality, with the sun and the moon.

Shamans and priests transformed their bodies during ceremonies and rituals using masks, body paint and glittering ornaments. Under the effects of psychotropic substances, they intoned chants, shouts and whispers in order to summon the spirits to the ritual. Voice and chant were copied from animals and the forces of nature, and allowed the shaman to go into a trance and thus communicate with the spirits.

Their chanting recreated the myth which perpetuates the ancient order of things, legitimises power, and consolidates the feeling of belonging. Depicting men with their mouths open in clay figures suggests the power and importance of chanting to these societies.

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Rotating discs

Music and ritual in Nariño and Carchi