On the Contemporariness and the Challenges of Clinical Practice

The first generation of Brazilian qualified music therapists[1], in which I belong, emerged on the seventies and began to provide clinical practice within the line of the third music production networks conceived by Jacques Attali (1978) – to wit, repetition – that consists in the possibility of sound recording, a recent phenomenon in human history, and in the reproduction and listening to of these sounds in the absence of those who first produced them. Initially, gadgetry involving radio, discs, tape spools and, cassettes, as well as the handling of some of said technological advancements, like "tape clipping", allowing for a larger set of sound possibilities was employed. These afforded us the instruments for creating together sounds designed and mixed along with others, thus broadening our sound-producing tools. Such portable tape recorders were also used to bring in the tunes my patients required or to record their own music endeavors, which is an important source for research to this day.