Tlapitzalli · the Mexica clay flute

What it is

A flute of fired clay. There are single-tube ones and multiple ones — up to four at once, played on a single breath — usually with four holes.

Sahagún names them among the instruments of the house of song, and many survive: it is one of the most abundant Mexica instruments in collections.

What is not known

These nine pitches are one instrument's, not those of the Mexica flute in general. Another clay flute would give others.

And the example is a replica, played and recorded by the author of this project. The measurement is exact; the object is recent. Hence: measured, not attested.

What exactly was measured

Synthesised from original recordings. The process was this: a replica of the instrument was played and recorded, and from that take the parameters the engine uses were extracted by analysis.

A replica is built today, by someone with their own view of what measurements and materials the original had. Its timbre is that replica's — not that of a museum piece, and still less of one that sounded in Tenochtitlan.

That is why the timbre is declared measured and not attested: the measurement started from a real object, and that object is recent.

The original takes are not kept. What is published here is the sound the engine produces from them, with its fingerprint so that anyone can check it is the file it claims to be.

Questions that reach this page

What is the tlapitzalli? The Mexica clay flute, usually with four holes. There are single-tube ones and multiple ones — up to four at once, played on a single breath.

How does a pre-Hispanic clay flute sound? Sweet, with audible breath: the air is part of the sound and does not separate from it.

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