[Aztlan] Ocarina Wind Instrument

[Arnd Adje Both]

Dear colleagues,
you touched a difficult topic. The explanation by Burgh is not exact, such as many of his conclusions on the music of the ancient Maya. From the point of organology, both "ocarinas" and "whistles" belong to the group of flutes. There are "tubular flutes", which are wind instruments with a straight pipe as resonating chamber, such as a cane flute. Then there are "globular flutes", which are wind instruments with a globular or oval resonator. The only difference of a "whistle" and a "flute" is if the instrument presents stops or finger holes or not. If it presents stops it's a "flute". In Mesoamerica, these instruments usually present one to five stops, occasionally six, such as a beautiful Maya tubular flute of 32,5 cm length from Aguateca. If the instrument has no stop it's a "whistle". Thus, both whistles and flutes can be globular or tubular, but a whistle never presents stops. The term "ocarina" is generally applied to glubular flutes with stops (in Mesoamerica, usually one two four), while a "whistle" (in Spanish "silbato") can be a glubular or a tubular flute without fingerholes. In Mesoamerica, all four instrument types are present, and many subtipes in anthropomorphic, zoomorphic, or fitomorphic form. Thus, there are double whistles and flutes, even cuadruple flutes with more than six finger holes, such as in Teotihuacan. In most cases, ceramic wind instruments are excavated, although there are also tubular flutes made from stone (Aztec finds of the Templo Mayor). The sounds which can be produced on these flutes depends greatly on the form of the resonating chamber (tubular or globular) and the number of stops, but also the playing techniques (blowing soft of strong, etc.). As no notation is preserved, we have only the testimonies of the early 16th century, especially on the Aztec music culture, and the excavated instruments themselves, which are often in playable condition. However, although improvisational playing of these instruments is valuable in terms of experimental archaeology, the sounds produced
 could give us only a very general idea on the pre-Hispanic music, which is lost forever. 
For those who are interested in the music archaeology of Mesoamerica, please check my website: www.mixcoacalli.com
Best regards, Adje Both

---
Dr. Arnd Adje BOTH
homepage: www.mixcoacalli.com

Chair, Music Archaeology Study Group of the ICTM
e-mail: adje at zedat.fu-berlin.de
homepage: www.ictmusic.org

Reiss-Engelhorn-Museen
C5 Zeughaus
68159 Mannheim
Tel 0049-(0)621-2932122
Fax 0049-(0)621-2933064
e-mail: adje.both at mannheim.de
homepage: www.rem-mannheim.de




-- 
AntaMaunA

Psssst! Schon vom neuen GMX MultiMessenger gehört? Der kann`s mit allen: http://www.gmx.net/de/go/multimessenger01