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
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
I also read about the
QUIJONGO OF CENTRAL AMERICA in
NATIVE AMERICAN STRING INSTRUMENTS
written by Dr. D.G. Brinton see page 19
(3) (3A)
"The first is the Quijongo of Central America. This is a monochord, made by fastening a'
wooden bow with a stretched cord, over the mouth of a gourd or jar which serves as a resonator.
The bow is usually a hollow reed about five feet long, and the resonator is attached at one-third
the distance from one end. The string is then bent down and fastened to the mouth of the jar.
The notes are produced by striking the two sections of the string with a light stick, and at the same
time the opening of the jar is more or less closed by the palm of the hand, thus producing a variety
in the notes.
I have given a cut of this instrument in the introduction to the Comedy Ballet of Guegueace,
p,xx^i -(Philadelphia, "1883). Professor).
F. Ferraz, in his work, Nahuatlismos de Costa Rica, p. 106,
says the name is from the Nahuatl or Aztec language, but its exact derivation is unknown.
which is interesting specifically because the word is purported to be a Nahuatl word which led to this this stringed instrument from Costa Rica, which looks very much like the instrument BERIMBAU,
from Brazil, except that it is played rather differently.
SEE YOUTUBE BELOW
QUIJONGO GAUNACASTECO
played by
Euliano Guadamuz Guadamuz 1 of 2
Did stringed instruments exist in ancient Mexico?
Robert Murrell Stevenson, cites Charles L. Boiles work (1932 - 1984)
Boiles cites 14 native language dictionaries with a definition for "string instruments"
which were published in Mexico.
(see page 23) of Music in Aztec and Inca Territory (2)
(Unfortunately he does not specify which indigenous dictionaries these appear in)
Is it possible that such an instrument existed and we have yet to find a record?
We have to remember that even though images have not been found in the Codices that we can still investigate murals, pottery and sculptures and new discoveries continue daily.
Robert Murrell Stevenson, cites Charles L. Boiles work (1932 - 1984)
Boiles cites 14 native language dictionaries with a definition for "string instruments"
which were published in Mexico.
(see page 23) of Music in Aztec and Inca Territory (2)
(Unfortunately he does not specify which indigenous dictionaries these appear in)
Is it possible that such an instrument existed and we have yet to find a record?
We have to remember that even though images have not been found in the Codices that we can still investigate murals, pottery and sculptures and new discoveries continue daily.
INDIGENOUS STRINGED INSTRUMENTS OF MEXICO/THE AMERICAS
CHAPAREKE
the MEXICAN MOUTH BOW
AKA
THE TARAHUMARA JEWS HARP
played by ANTONIO CAMILO BAUTISTA JARIZ
plays the Chapareke from the Taruhamara people of Chihuahua
CHAPAREKE
the MEXICAN MOUTH BOW
AKA
THE TARAHUMARA JEWS HARP
played by ANTONIO CAMILO BAUTISTA JARIZ
plays the Chapareke from the Taruhamara people of Chihuahua
CHAPAREKE played by ANTONIO CAMILO BAUTISTA JARIZ
2 of 2Presentación Antonio Camilo Bautista El Chapareke con imágenes del Teaser de Ángel Estrada Soto,
fotografías de Eduardo Reyes Aquino en el Festival Son raíz realizado en San Luis Potosi.
2 of 2Presentación Antonio Camilo Bautista El Chapareke con imágenes del Teaser de Ángel Estrada Soto,
fotografías de Eduardo Reyes Aquino en el Festival Son raíz realizado en San Luis Potosi.
IN THE SIERRE MADRE by JEFF BIGGERS
see page 35 for more
http://books.google.com/books?id=3R3F2lEReEIC&pg=PA35&lpg=PA35&dq=chapareke&source=bl&ots=HV66BbNPOG&sig=Ky-wYrBWd2ibIDvWgPjSejuAw_k&hl=en&sa=X&ei=69jAUeqSDsGCiAKJxIDwAw&ved=0CHoQ6AEwCw#v=onepage&q=chapareke&f=false
http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/unbound/abroad/jb990929.htm
see page 35 for more
http://books.google.com/books?id=3R3F2lEReEIC&pg=PA35&lpg=PA35&dq=chapareke&source=bl&ots=HV66BbNPOG&sig=Ky-wYrBWd2ibIDvWgPjSejuAw_k&hl=en&sa=X&ei=69jAUeqSDsGCiAKJxIDwAw&ved=0CHoQ6AEwCw#v=onepage&q=chapareke&f=false
http://www.theatlantic.com/past/docs/unbound/abroad/jb990929.htm
MUSICAL BOWS of the
CORA
HUICHOL
MAIDU
MAYA
TEPEHUANO
TAWITOL(4)
THE MUSICAL BOW
FROM THE TEPEHUANOS
*LUMHOLTZ writes,
"As we entered on the plain we could distinctly hear the beating of the tāwitól, the musicalinstrument of the Tepehuanes. At this distance it sounded like a big drum. Srange to say, the shaman was a Tepehuane. I learned later that the Aztecs consider the shamans of that tribe better than their own. In front of the shaman was the musical instrument on which he had been playing. This was a large, round gourd, on top of which a bow of unusual size was placed with its back down. The shaman's right foot rested on a board which holds the bow in place on the gourd. The bow being made taut, the shaman beats the string with two sticks, in a short, rhythmical measure of one long and two short beats. When heard near by, the sonorousness of the sound reminds one of the cello. "This is the musical bow of America, which is here met with for the first time. It is intimately connected with the religious rites of this tribe, as well as with those of the Coras and the Huichols, the latter playing it with two arrows. The assertion has been made that the musical bow is not indigenous to the Western Hemisphere, but was introduced by African slaves.
Without placing undue importance on the fact that negroes are very rarely, if at all, found in the north-western part of Mexico, it seems entirely beyond the range of possibility that a foreign implement could have become of such paramount importance in the religious system of several tribes. Moreover, this opinion is confirmed by Mr. R. B. Dixon's discovery, in 1900, of a musical bow among the Maidu Indians on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, northeast of San Francisco, California. In the religion of that tribe also this bow plays an important part, and much secrecy is connected with it."
*CARL LUMHOLTZ UNKNOWN MEXICO VOLUME 1
http://books.google.com/books/about/Unknown_Mexico.html?id=fSr5Nnu_C3EC
HOOL (5A) (5B) (5D)(5D)(5E)(5F)(5G)(5H)
"A PRIMITIVE MAYA MUSICAL INSTRUMENT"
Mr. M. H. Saville
"M.H. Saville described a primitive stringed instruments which he had personally encountered in the winter of 1890-1891, while exploring a cave of the Tabia hacienda in Yucatan, some Mayas from "various small villages in the interior of the country, remote from Spanish influences," introduced him to a "primitive form of stringed instrument" call a hool. This instrument was made by stretching a piece of rope-like vine called ohil, between the two ends of a pliable piece of wood, making a bow about two feet in length."
To hear a sample of the musical bow go to (5H)
"This is a percussion instrument consisting of a long wooden bow with gourd resonator beneath. An ordinary string is stretched taut and wound around the two notched ends of the bow. The bow is stretched on the gourd, which rests on the ground, the performer holds the two together his his foot, striking the string with two thin wooden sticks"
(5G)
Carleen D. Sanchez1
Songs of the Ancestors: Ancient Maya Musicians
http://istmo.denison.edu/n17/articulos/sanchez2.html
CORA
HUICHOL
MAIDU
MAYA
TEPEHUANO
TAWITOL(4)
THE MUSICAL BOW
FROM THE TEPEHUANOS
*LUMHOLTZ writes,
"As we entered on the plain we could distinctly hear the beating of the tāwitól, the musicalinstrument of the Tepehuanes. At this distance it sounded like a big drum. Srange to say, the shaman was a Tepehuane. I learned later that the Aztecs consider the shamans of that tribe better than their own. In front of the shaman was the musical instrument on which he had been playing. This was a large, round gourd, on top of which a bow of unusual size was placed with its back down. The shaman's right foot rested on a board which holds the bow in place on the gourd. The bow being made taut, the shaman beats the string with two sticks, in a short, rhythmical measure of one long and two short beats. When heard near by, the sonorousness of the sound reminds one of the cello. "This is the musical bow of America, which is here met with for the first time. It is intimately connected with the religious rites of this tribe, as well as with those of the Coras and the Huichols, the latter playing it with two arrows. The assertion has been made that the musical bow is not indigenous to the Western Hemisphere, but was introduced by African slaves.
Without placing undue importance on the fact that negroes are very rarely, if at all, found in the north-western part of Mexico, it seems entirely beyond the range of possibility that a foreign implement could have become of such paramount importance in the religious system of several tribes. Moreover, this opinion is confirmed by Mr. R. B. Dixon's discovery, in 1900, of a musical bow among the Maidu Indians on the western slope of the Sierra Nevada, northeast of San Francisco, California. In the religion of that tribe also this bow plays an important part, and much secrecy is connected with it."
*CARL LUMHOLTZ UNKNOWN MEXICO VOLUME 1
http://books.google.com/books/about/Unknown_Mexico.html?id=fSr5Nnu_C3EC
HOOL (5A) (5B) (5D)(5D)(5E)(5F)(5G)(5H)
"A PRIMITIVE MAYA MUSICAL INSTRUMENT"
Mr. M. H. Saville
"M.H. Saville described a primitive stringed instruments which he had personally encountered in the winter of 1890-1891, while exploring a cave of the Tabia hacienda in Yucatan, some Mayas from "various small villages in the interior of the country, remote from Spanish influences," introduced him to a "primitive form of stringed instrument" call a hool. This instrument was made by stretching a piece of rope-like vine called ohil, between the two ends of a pliable piece of wood, making a bow about two feet in length."
To hear a sample of the musical bow go to (5H)
"This is a percussion instrument consisting of a long wooden bow with gourd resonator beneath. An ordinary string is stretched taut and wound around the two notched ends of the bow. The bow is stretched on the gourd, which rests on the ground, the performer holds the two together his his foot, striking the string with two thin wooden sticks"
(5G)
Carleen D. Sanchez1
Songs of the Ancestors: Ancient Maya Musicians
http://istmo.denison.edu/n17/articulos/sanchez2.html
MAYAN FRICTION/JAGUAR DRUM
Another MAYAN stringed instrument
http://mcis2.princeton.edu/jaguar/jaguar.html
CLICK on LISTEN on the bottom right of the page
then CLICK on the image of the man standing holding
a bow
Another MAYAN stringed instrument
http://mcis2.princeton.edu/jaguar/jaguar.html
CLICK on LISTEN on the bottom right of the page
then CLICK on the image of the man standing holding
a bow
MAYAN JAGUAR DRUM
replicated and played by Ethnomusicologist John Burkhalter
Uploaded on YOUTUBE Apr 1, 2009
Ethnomusicologist John Burkhalter demonstrates how the Maya mimicked
the sound of a growling jaguar with a reconstruction of a jaguar drum. This
is part of the exhibition Painted Metaphors : Pottery and Politics of the Ancient Maya.
Applying Experimental Archaeology to Ethnomusicology:
Recreating an Ancient Maya Friction Drum through Various Lines of Evidence by John A. Donahue
(June 2000) An examination of a Maya musical instrument that appears on vase K5233.
A SHORT HISTORY OF ROLLOUT PHOTOGRAPHY bu JUSTIN KERR
http://www.famsi.org/research/kerr/rollout.html
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
(3)
NATIVE AMERICAN STRING INSTRUMENTS
written by Dr. Daniel G. Brinton
see page 19
http://books.google.com/books?id=3ZQLAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA19&dq=NATIVE+AMERICAN+STRING+INSTRUMENTS+Daniel+G.+Brinton+American+Antiquarian&hl=en&sa=X&ei=oTy5UYLEMM7qiQL024GgAQ&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=NATIVE%20AMERICAN%20STRING%20INSTRUMENTS%20Daniel%20G.%20Brinton%20American%20Antiquarian&f=false
or
http://archive.org/details/nativeamerinstru00brinrich
and
3A MUSIC IN AZTEC AND INCA TERRITORY page 23
(4)
TAWITOL - THE MUSICAL BOW FROM THE TEPEHUANOS
See page 474 of Carl Lumholtz UNKNOWN MEXICO VOLUME 1
http://books.google.com/books?id=klMTAAAAYAAJ&q=tawitol#v=snippet&q=tawitol&f=false
(4b)
http://archive.org/stream/unknownmexicovol16426gut/16426.txthttp://archive.org/stream/unknownmexicovol16426gut/16426.txt
(5A)
See page 24 of MUSIC IN AZTEC AND INCA TERRITORY
(5B)
A PRIMITIVE MAYA MUSICAL INSTRUMENT
by Mr. M. H. Saville in the American Anthropologist for August, 1897,
go here
http://archive.org/search.php?query=maya%20instrument
to search, read online and/or download
see page 272
(5C)
THE MUSICAL BOW IN ANCIENT MEXICO
by Mr. M. H. Saville
is an article from American Anthropologist, Volume 11.
http://archive.org/details/jstor-658759
(5D)
THE GARLAND ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD MUSIC:SOUTHEAST ASIA(!)
PAGE 658
http://books.google.com/books?id=Xb2ibVAXO9sC&pg=PA658&lpg=PA658&dq=hool+instrumentos+mayan&source=bl&ots=ahOE6xJUjR&sig=_PqKTDePA-3wukFKiHtVK7cRkoQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Aw3BUbKVLefkiALUq4DQCA&ved=0CE4Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=hool%20instrumentos%20mayan&f=false
(5E)
THE AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN AND ORIENTAL JOURNAL
VOLUME 19
pages 19 and 20
(5F)
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE MUSICAL BOW
http://books.google.com/books?id=pSQJAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA45&lpg=PA45&dq=musical+bows+mexico&source=bl&ots=XX3jQp9ZYZ&sig=eBuS6oyo8JOrevwbds_YhYba7v4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RA_BUeSWBaeciALlooH4Dg&ved=0CGAQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=musical%20bows%20mexico&f=false
(5G)
The following link will take you to recordings by Henrietta Yurchenco
Henrietta Yurchenco, folklorist, broadcaster and writer,
born March 22 1916; died December 10 2007
and can be heard here
http://www.folkways.si.edu/indian-music-of-mexico/a/american-indian-world/album/smithsonian
go to
206 - CORA HARVEST SONG - Cora Shaman with Mitote
207 - CORA HARVEST SONG - Cora Shaman with Mitote
The Mitote is the same musical bow,
played by the Cora, Huichol, Maidu, Mayan and many others
"Ethnomusicologists study music in varying ethnic contexts. Ms. Yurchenco began by tracking down 14 all-but-unknown Mexican and Guatemalan tribes, reaching them with little but a mule and 300 pounds of recording equipment. She eventually recorded 2,000 of their songs for the Library of Congress."
New York Times obituary
Henrietta Yurchenco obituary excerpt
"Aged 21, Yurchenco and her husband travelled to some of the remotest parts of Mexico. Using what was then state-of-art equipment - portable at a mere 200-300lb - they recorded the sounds of native Mexican peoples, such as the Cora, Huichol, Seri, Tzotozil and Yaqui, who had always lived cut off from mainstream society. Even now, with the possible exception of that of the Yaqui - a people made famous through the writings of Carlos Castaneda - this music sounds otherworldly. Yurchenco's recordings from that and later trips to Mexico and Guatemala between 1942 and 1946 resulted in such releases as
Folk Music of Mexico (1948) for the Library of Congress and
Indian Music of Mexico (1952).
was also, in 1968, her Latin American Children's Game Songs Recorded in Puerto Rico and Mexico.
Her most commercially successful album was The Real Mexico (1966)."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/feb/11/folk.mainsection
Henrietta Yurchenco obituary
http://thevillager.com/villager_242/henriettayurchenco.html
go here to see and hear the other recordings she did on FOLKWAYS and NONESUCH
http://www.nonesuch.com/albums/mexico-the-real-mexico-in-music-and-song
check out the music of the PUREPECHA here
ANCIENT BOOKS:
Mixtec Group Codices
http://www.famsi.org/research/pohl/jpcodices/pohlmixtec1.html
Geographical Distribution of the Musical Bow Dr. Mason
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_54/March_1899/Fragments_of_Science
replicated and played by Ethnomusicologist John Burkhalter
Uploaded on YOUTUBE Apr 1, 2009
Ethnomusicologist John Burkhalter demonstrates how the Maya mimicked
the sound of a growling jaguar with a reconstruction of a jaguar drum. This
is part of the exhibition Painted Metaphors : Pottery and Politics of the Ancient Maya.
Applying Experimental Archaeology to Ethnomusicology:
Recreating an Ancient Maya Friction Drum through Various Lines of Evidence by John A. Donahue
(June 2000) An examination of a Maya musical instrument that appears on vase K5233.
A SHORT HISTORY OF ROLLOUT PHOTOGRAPHY bu JUSTIN KERR
http://www.famsi.org/research/kerr/rollout.html
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
(3)
NATIVE AMERICAN STRING INSTRUMENTS
written by Dr. Daniel G. Brinton
see page 19
http://books.google.com/books?id=3ZQLAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA19&dq=NATIVE+AMERICAN+STRING+INSTRUMENTS+Daniel+G.+Brinton+American+Antiquarian&hl=en&sa=X&ei=oTy5UYLEMM7qiQL024GgAQ&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=NATIVE%20AMERICAN%20STRING%20INSTRUMENTS%20Daniel%20G.%20Brinton%20American%20Antiquarian&f=false
or
http://archive.org/details/nativeamerinstru00brinrich
and
3A MUSIC IN AZTEC AND INCA TERRITORY page 23
(4)
TAWITOL - THE MUSICAL BOW FROM THE TEPEHUANOS
See page 474 of Carl Lumholtz UNKNOWN MEXICO VOLUME 1
http://books.google.com/books?id=klMTAAAAYAAJ&q=tawitol#v=snippet&q=tawitol&f=false
(4b)
http://archive.org/stream/unknownmexicovol16426gut/16426.txthttp://archive.org/stream/unknownmexicovol16426gut/16426.txt
(5A)
See page 24 of MUSIC IN AZTEC AND INCA TERRITORY
(5B)
A PRIMITIVE MAYA MUSICAL INSTRUMENT
by Mr. M. H. Saville in the American Anthropologist for August, 1897,
go here
http://archive.org/search.php?query=maya%20instrument
to search, read online and/or download
see page 272
(5C)
THE MUSICAL BOW IN ANCIENT MEXICO
by Mr. M. H. Saville
is an article from American Anthropologist, Volume 11.
http://archive.org/details/jstor-658759
(5D)
THE GARLAND ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD MUSIC:SOUTHEAST ASIA(!)
PAGE 658
http://books.google.com/books?id=Xb2ibVAXO9sC&pg=PA658&lpg=PA658&dq=hool+instrumentos+mayan&source=bl&ots=ahOE6xJUjR&sig=_PqKTDePA-3wukFKiHtVK7cRkoQ&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Aw3BUbKVLefkiALUq4DQCA&ved=0CE4Q6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=hool%20instrumentos%20mayan&f=false
(5E)
THE AMERICAN ANTIQUARIAN AND ORIENTAL JOURNAL
VOLUME 19
pages 19 and 20
(5F)
THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE MUSICAL BOW
http://books.google.com/books?id=pSQJAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA45&lpg=PA45&dq=musical+bows+mexico&source=bl&ots=XX3jQp9ZYZ&sig=eBuS6oyo8JOrevwbds_YhYba7v4&hl=en&sa=X&ei=RA_BUeSWBaeciALlooH4Dg&ved=0CGAQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=musical%20bows%20mexico&f=false
(5G)
The following link will take you to recordings by Henrietta Yurchenco
Henrietta Yurchenco, folklorist, broadcaster and writer,
born March 22 1916; died December 10 2007
and can be heard here
http://www.folkways.si.edu/indian-music-of-mexico/a/american-indian-world/album/smithsonian
go to
206 - CORA HARVEST SONG - Cora Shaman with Mitote
207 - CORA HARVEST SONG - Cora Shaman with Mitote
The Mitote is the same musical bow,
played by the Cora, Huichol, Maidu, Mayan and many others
"Ethnomusicologists study music in varying ethnic contexts. Ms. Yurchenco began by tracking down 14 all-but-unknown Mexican and Guatemalan tribes, reaching them with little but a mule and 300 pounds of recording equipment. She eventually recorded 2,000 of their songs for the Library of Congress."
New York Times obituary
Henrietta Yurchenco obituary excerpt
"Aged 21, Yurchenco and her husband travelled to some of the remotest parts of Mexico. Using what was then state-of-art equipment - portable at a mere 200-300lb - they recorded the sounds of native Mexican peoples, such as the Cora, Huichol, Seri, Tzotozil and Yaqui, who had always lived cut off from mainstream society. Even now, with the possible exception of that of the Yaqui - a people made famous through the writings of Carlos Castaneda - this music sounds otherworldly. Yurchenco's recordings from that and later trips to Mexico and Guatemala between 1942 and 1946 resulted in such releases as
Folk Music of Mexico (1948) for the Library of Congress and
Indian Music of Mexico (1952).
was also, in 1968, her Latin American Children's Game Songs Recorded in Puerto Rico and Mexico.
Her most commercially successful album was The Real Mexico (1966)."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2008/feb/11/folk.mainsection
Henrietta Yurchenco obituary
http://thevillager.com/villager_242/henriettayurchenco.html
go here to see and hear the other recordings she did on FOLKWAYS and NONESUCH
http://www.nonesuch.com/albums/mexico-the-real-mexico-in-music-and-song
check out the music of the PUREPECHA here
ANCIENT BOOKS:
Mixtec Group Codices
http://www.famsi.org/research/pohl/jpcodices/pohlmixtec1.html
Geographical Distribution of the Musical Bow Dr. Mason
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Popular_Science_Monthly/Volume_54/March_1899/Fragments_of_Science