Electroacoustic music in Latin America: Two examples of sound-based research conducted at Studio PANaroma

Abstract This article presents the recent production and institutional trajectory of Studio PANaroma, one of the leading centres for research and creation in electroacoustic music in Latin America. Over the course of three decades, PANaroma has functioned not only as a multichannel electroacoustic music studio, but also as a pedagogical hub – nurturing new generations of composers through a coherent artistic vision embedded within Brazil’s public university system. This article discusses the studio’s aesthetic orientation and artistic values, as well as the collaborative research strategies currently being developed within SOMNIUM, its newly established research group. Two case studies are presented. The first stems from a recently concluded six-year Thematic Project entitled Harmonicity and Inharmonicity in Instruments of the Percussion/Resonance Family in Interaction with Electronics (2019–2025). This research investigated how the harmonic and inharmonic spectra of percussion instruments can inform both compositional strategies and analytical methodologies. The second case outlines a new line of inquiry still in its early stages, currently in the process of project design and preliminary research. This investigation introduces the concept of Sonoclisis – a neologism coined to describe the acoustic phenomena resulting from the physical coupling of sounding bodies – exploring its implications for both sound-based composition and analysis.