AYOTAPALKATL
STRING INSTRUMENTS IN THE AMERICAS/MEXICO
Most musical historians believe that there were little to no stringed instruments in the Americas
prior to the arrival of the Spaniards due to the lack of documentation either written or visual
I went back and revisited Robert Murrell Stevenson's books and went thru his footnotes and bibliographys
1 - MUSIC IN MEXICO: A HISTORICAL SURVEY (1)
and
2 - MUSIC IN AZTEC AND INCA TERRITORY (2)
two of the best researched books in English on the subject
and was surprised to find them ONLINE as ebooks to either read
and/or download for FREE
2 - MUSIC IN AZTEC AND INCA TERRITORY (2)
has been out of print for many years and
1 - MUSIC IN MEXICO: A HISTORICAL SURVEY (1)
it is very difficult to find in any library
In researching Stevenson's sources listed in his bibliography on the internet,
he included articles, books and pamphlets which are now long out of print but available on the internet
I found the following articles written in 1898
PRE-COLUMBIAN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS IN AMERICA
by Edward S. Morse
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_54/March_1899/Fragments_of_Science
who agreed with American Archaeologist
Marshall Howard Saville - (1867 - 1935)
Author of
A PRIMITIVE MAYA MUSICAL INSTRUMENT
https://archive.org/details/jstor-658368
that the image- SEE MIXTEC MUSICO #6 JPEG
is a musician, that he believes to be holding a stringed instrument
i.e. a musical bow
(the interesting thing about this MIXTEC image is that it is rarely shown with more than
four musicians at one time. Many times it is shown with only the percussionists playing
and not the "trumpet" players.
The only image I was able to find on the INTERNET in color can be seen here,
but there are black and white images with 6 MIXTEC musicians shown not 4(!)
4 MIXTEC MUSICOS
Shortly after Saville reported his findings he reported the following
"Within a few days I have received a letter from Mrs. Zelia Nuttall*,
the eminent American paleographist,to whom we are indebted for
the most profound researches in connection with these ancient codices.
In this letter Mrs. Nuttall refers to Sahagun's great manuscript, wherein she says :
"The native musical instruments are repeatedly enumerated. The turtle's shell figures
among them, but there is no trace of a stringed musical instrument ever having been
known or employed in ancient Mexico. (The Italics are hers.)
Mrs. Nuttall then says that the object held under the arm of the musician
which has been recognized as a musical bow is undoubtedly a turtle's shell.
In support of this view she sends me a tracing of the figure from the original manuscript
which is now in Vienna, in which the entire object under the arm of the player as well as
the forked stick is colored blue
(See MIXTEC MUSICO 6).
A photograph is also inclosed (their spelling)from another ancient Mexican manuscript
in course of publication *the American archaeologist and anthropologist ZELIA NUTTALL
http://www.aaanet.org/sections/gad/history/067nuttallobit.pdf
So the first purported string(ed) instruments was actually an AYOLT = a turtle shell played with deer antlers
MORE LINKS TO CHECK OUT
(1)
MUSIC IN MEXICO - A HISTORICAL SURVEY
written by Robert Murrell Stevenson
http://books.google.com/books/about/Music_in_Mexico.html?id=VDwuAAAAMAAJ
(2)
MUSIC IN INCA AND AZTEC TERRITORY
written by Robert Murrell Stevenson
http://books.google.com/books?id=VGLT-pJDxcYC&q=Charles+L.+Boiles#v=snippet&q=Charles%20L.%20Boiles%20dictionaries&f=false
STRING INSTRUMENTS IN THE AMERICAS/MEXICO
Most musical historians believe that there were little to no stringed instruments in the Americas
prior to the arrival of the Spaniards due to the lack of documentation either written or visual
I went back and revisited Robert Murrell Stevenson's books and went thru his footnotes and bibliographys
1 - MUSIC IN MEXICO: A HISTORICAL SURVEY (1)
and
2 - MUSIC IN AZTEC AND INCA TERRITORY (2)
two of the best researched books in English on the subject
and was surprised to find them ONLINE as ebooks to either read
and/or download for FREE
2 - MUSIC IN AZTEC AND INCA TERRITORY (2)
has been out of print for many years and
1 - MUSIC IN MEXICO: A HISTORICAL SURVEY (1)
it is very difficult to find in any library
In researching Stevenson's sources listed in his bibliography on the internet,
he included articles, books and pamphlets which are now long out of print but available on the internet
I found the following articles written in 1898
PRE-COLUMBIAN MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS IN AMERICA
by Edward S. Morse
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_54/March_1899/Fragments_of_Science
who agreed with American Archaeologist
Marshall Howard Saville - (1867 - 1935)
Author of
A PRIMITIVE MAYA MUSICAL INSTRUMENT
https://archive.org/details/jstor-658368
that the image- SEE MIXTEC MUSICO #6 JPEG
is a musician, that he believes to be holding a stringed instrument
i.e. a musical bow
(the interesting thing about this MIXTEC image is that it is rarely shown with more than
four musicians at one time. Many times it is shown with only the percussionists playing
and not the "trumpet" players.
The only image I was able to find on the INTERNET in color can be seen here,
but there are black and white images with 6 MIXTEC musicians shown not 4(!)
4 MIXTEC MUSICOS
Shortly after Saville reported his findings he reported the following
"Within a few days I have received a letter from Mrs. Zelia Nuttall*,
the eminent American paleographist,to whom we are indebted for
the most profound researches in connection with these ancient codices.
In this letter Mrs. Nuttall refers to Sahagun's great manuscript, wherein she says :
"The native musical instruments are repeatedly enumerated. The turtle's shell figures
among them, but there is no trace of a stringed musical instrument ever having been
known or employed in ancient Mexico. (The Italics are hers.)
Mrs. Nuttall then says that the object held under the arm of the musician
which has been recognized as a musical bow is undoubtedly a turtle's shell.
In support of this view she sends me a tracing of the figure from the original manuscript
which is now in Vienna, in which the entire object under the arm of the player as well as
the forked stick is colored blue
(See MIXTEC MUSICO 6).
A photograph is also inclosed (their spelling)from another ancient Mexican manuscript
in course of publication *the American archaeologist and anthropologist ZELIA NUTTALL
http://www.aaanet.org/sections/gad/history/067nuttallobit.pdf
So the first purported string(ed) instruments was actually an AYOLT = a turtle shell played with deer antlers
MORE LINKS TO CHECK OUT
(1)
MUSIC IN MEXICO - A HISTORICAL SURVEY
written by Robert Murrell Stevenson
http://books.google.com/books/about/Music_in_Mexico.html?id=VDwuAAAAMAAJ
(2)
MUSIC IN INCA AND AZTEC TERRITORY
written by Robert Murrell Stevenson
http://books.google.com/books?id=VGLT-pJDxcYC&q=Charles+L.+Boiles#v=snippet&q=Charles%20L.%20Boiles%20dictionaries&f=false