AYOTAPALKATL
AYOTAPALKATL aka AYOTAPALCATL -
NAHUATL word for the turtle shell as instrument
AYOTL/AYOCACALLTOL = NAHUATL word for turtle shell
TURTLE SHELLS - ENGLISH
AAK, KAYAB - MAYAN
CAPARAZON - SPANISH
NAHUATL word for the turtle shell as instrument
AYOTL/AYOCACALLTOL = NAHUATL word for turtle shell
TURTLE SHELLS - ENGLISH
AAK, KAYAB - MAYAN
CAPARAZON - SPANISH
some cutlures of MesoAmerica played fresh water turtle shells
traditionally played with a deer antler,
not as a beater,
but as a scraper /rasp
while others played salt water turtle shells
also as a rasp
the images below are both Mayan,
albeit a few hundred years apart
and the YOUTUBEs demonstrate the shells being played both ways
|
BELOW LEFT another image of a musician playing the shell as a rasp not Mayan not Mexica but Zapotec |
BELOW RIGHT This is not the attire of a MIXTEC musician but the attire of the son of a MIXTEC royal playing the shell as a rasp The date of this paean is 1048, and the inspiration for it was the defeat, capture, and sacrifice of King 8 Deer's most potent rivals in the race for Xipe Bundle, The rival's body had been burned and 8 Deer had made his oblations in a temple (shown in upper left of panel 7, Codex Becker l) He thence emerges to join his confederate chieftains in the music making. Not yet done, however, with other contenders, 8 Deer must wait until the following year (1049) to make good his claims by capturing the town of Xipe Bundle itself. |
|
BELOW LEFT the image is from the tomb of YAX NUUN AYIIN, who passed away in 404 A.D., shows that he was buried with a turtle shell marimba made of graduated sizes on a wooden frame |
BELOW RIGHT the image is a modern day practitioner playing gradudated turtle shells in a marimba type fashion and can be seen in the YOUTUBE further down |
|
BELOW LEFT
This image is from the musical presentation for the GETTY RESEARCH INSTITUTE (GRI), the LOS ANGELES COUNTY MUSEUM OF ART (LACMA), and the BIBLIOTECA NACIONAL DE ANTROPOLOGIA E HISTORIA and in conjunction with the GRI's Florentine Codex Initiative and LACMA's exhibition MIXPANTLI: with both turtle shell and stones used as a marimba |
BELOW RIGHT
the following were received as gifts over the years by friends and strangers either before or after a concert including atecocolli butterfly cocoons chichtli condor feathers deer antlers hawk feathers Raramuri drums rasps rattles tawitols turtle shells Yaqui water drums |
2:13 THRU 2:29
shows the shell being played like a rasp with a deer antler
NOTE
I have seen these instruments played with bones, and sticks and all manners of beaters
because musicians always find a way to get as many sounds out of an instrument as possible
i.e.,
there is always more than one way to play an instrument.
I found a turn of the century book describing musicians using it as a rasp
which is probably why the shell is held the way it is.
KAYAB by Mayans
"used at sacrificial and memorial events
not used or considered for light pastimes
nor is it included in the inventory of Moctezuma ll's palace instruments"
SAHAGUN Bk Vlll, chap 14, par 7
of
THE FLORENTINE CODEX
excludes it from the MIXCOACALLI -
The gathering place of the professional singers and dancers, and the
storeroom for all their musical instruments and dance regalia
https://www.wdl.org/en/item/10096/view/1/1/
I have seen these instruments played with bones, and sticks and all manners of beaters
because musicians always find a way to get as many sounds out of an instrument as possible
i.e.,
there is always more than one way to play an instrument.
I found a turn of the century book describing musicians using it as a rasp
which is probably why the shell is held the way it is.
KAYAB by Mayans
"used at sacrificial and memorial events
not used or considered for light pastimes
nor is it included in the inventory of Moctezuma ll's palace instruments"
SAHAGUN Bk Vlll, chap 14, par 7
of
THE FLORENTINE CODEX
excludes it from the MIXCOACALLI -
The gathering place of the professional singers and dancers, and the
storeroom for all their musical instruments and dance regalia
https://www.wdl.org/en/item/10096/view/1/1/
it is mentioned in The Telacion de las ceremonies y riots y población y gobierno
de los indios de la provincia de Michoacan (1541)
Clay tortoise shells found 12/13/1900
at the Escalerillas street excavations
list where used pg 36
"because of its frequent use at sacrificial and memorial events, it seems not to have
been considered appropriate for light pastimes, nor is it included in the inventory of
Moctezuma ll's palace instruments. Sahagun excludes it from the mixcoacalli,
" the gathering place of the professional singers and dancers, and the storeroom
for all their musical instruments and dance costumes. "
Dedication of the Great Temple at Mexico City
1944 ed, p 331
CRONICA MEXICANA
Hernando de Alvarado Tezozomoc
the Ayotl was used suited to the funeral procession according to
CRONICA MEXICANA
Hernando de Alvarado Tezozomoc
The Midnight funeral procession of the Tarascan King is described in
The Relacion de las ceremonias y ritos y poblacion y gobierno de los indios de la provincia de Michoacan(1541)
it tells how the dead ruler's chief drummer, along with the carpenter in charge of making the royal drums,
marched in a funeral procession with forty other household officials,
"Some alligator bones and tortoise shells, provided fitting music"
DESCRIPTION OF MAYA PLAYING THE SAME INSTRUMENT
NOTE:
The quote is interesting in that they are the same instruments with a different name
AND it specifies that the tortoise shell is struck with the palm of the hand, instead
of played with an antler and scraped as a rasp/guiro)
"Drums which they play with the hand (huehuetl = zacatan)
and another drum made of hollow wood (teponaztli = tunkul)
with a heavy and sad sound.
They beat ut with rather a long stick with a certain gum from a tree at the end of it,
and they have long thin trumpets of hollow wood with long twisted gourds at the ends.
And they have another instrument made of a whole tortoise with its shells, and having taken
out the flesh, they strike it with the palm of the hand. The sound is doleful and sad. They have
whistles made of leg bones of deer" great conch shells and flutes made of reeds, and with these
instruments they make music for the dancers.
"RELACION DE LAS COSAS DE YUCATAN (1566)
DIEGO DE LANDA (1524 - 1579)
de los indios de la provincia de Michoacan (1541)
Clay tortoise shells found 12/13/1900
at the Escalerillas street excavations
list where used pg 36
"because of its frequent use at sacrificial and memorial events, it seems not to have
been considered appropriate for light pastimes, nor is it included in the inventory of
Moctezuma ll's palace instruments. Sahagun excludes it from the mixcoacalli,
" the gathering place of the professional singers and dancers, and the storeroom
for all their musical instruments and dance costumes. "
Dedication of the Great Temple at Mexico City
1944 ed, p 331
CRONICA MEXICANA
Hernando de Alvarado Tezozomoc
the Ayotl was used suited to the funeral procession according to
CRONICA MEXICANA
Hernando de Alvarado Tezozomoc
The Midnight funeral procession of the Tarascan King is described in
The Relacion de las ceremonias y ritos y poblacion y gobierno de los indios de la provincia de Michoacan(1541)
it tells how the dead ruler's chief drummer, along with the carpenter in charge of making the royal drums,
marched in a funeral procession with forty other household officials,
"Some alligator bones and tortoise shells, provided fitting music"
DESCRIPTION OF MAYA PLAYING THE SAME INSTRUMENT
NOTE:
The quote is interesting in that they are the same instruments with a different name
AND it specifies that the tortoise shell is struck with the palm of the hand, instead
of played with an antler and scraped as a rasp/guiro)
"Drums which they play with the hand (huehuetl = zacatan)
and another drum made of hollow wood (teponaztli = tunkul)
with a heavy and sad sound.
They beat ut with rather a long stick with a certain gum from a tree at the end of it,
and they have long thin trumpets of hollow wood with long twisted gourds at the ends.
And they have another instrument made of a whole tortoise with its shells, and having taken
out the flesh, they strike it with the palm of the hand. The sound is doleful and sad. They have
whistles made of leg bones of deer" great conch shells and flutes made of reeds, and with these
instruments they make music for the dancers.
"RELACION DE LAS COSAS DE YUCATAN (1566)
DIEGO DE LANDA (1524 - 1579)
Indigenous instruments of Mexico - improvisation/demonstration
AYOTAPALCATL, TETL, CHALCHAYOTES, HUEHUETL
one of the first videos made for educational purposes showing the shells played
in a marimba like fashion
in a marimba like fashion
10:33 thru 10:59
shows the shell played as a drum/marimba
shows the shell played as a drum/marimba
