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Label: CADEMAC  LPTC-06

Released: 1990

Country: Mexico

Info:

TRIBU
MASEUAL
the man of this sun

 

MASEUAL 

In 1 Tochtli the Toltecs had their beginning; there began the count of his years… According to what the old people knew, in this 1 Tochtli the Toltecs had their beginning; there began the count of his years… According to what the old people knew, in this 1 Tochtli the earth and the sky stagnated; they also knew that […] four classes of people had lived, there had been four lives […] that each one was a Sun. They said that their god made them and raised them from ashes; and they attributed to Quetzalcóatl, sign of seven ecatl [7 Ehecatl or Wind], having made and created them. Such, the word of the Annals of Cuauhtitlan.

 

And this that follows is the word that delimits and summarizes for us Román Piña Chan: “According to the Annals of Cuauhtitlan, the name of this Sun is Nahui Ollin (Four Movement). ‘This is already one of us, of those who live today. This It is his sign, the one that is here, because the Sun fell into the fire in the divine furnace of Teotihuacan. It was the same Sun of Topiltzin (our son) of Tollan, of Quetzalcóhuatl. Before this Sun was, his name was Nanáhuatl, that it was from Tamoanchán… What is here is named Teotexcalli (divine oven) that burned for four years (days),’ that is, as […] on Stela 3 of Xochicalco, Quetzalcóatl in one of his forms , Xólotl or Nanahuatzin, sacrifices himself to create the Sun in Teotihuacan and this Fifth Sun was that of the Toltecs of Tula Hidalgo, whose priest or Quetzalcóhuatl named Ce Acatl Topiltzin brought the cult of the god to that place. // In the same Annals from Cuauhtitlan it is mentioned that in 1 Tochtli, when Heaven stagnated and there was no sun and humanity disappeared, the gods were consulted to determine who would constitute the new humanity; that is, to create man again. And so, then Quetzalcóatl went to hell (to Mictlán or underworld), he came to Mictlantecuhtli and Mictlancíhuatl (lord and lady of the world of the dead) and said: I have come for the precious bones that you keep. And he said: What will you do, Quetzalcohuatl? Again he said: The gods try to make with them who dwells on Earth. […] Then he took the precious bones: they were together, on one side, the bones of a man, and also together, on the other side, the bones of a woman. So he took them, Quetzalcóhuatl made a mess of them, which he immediately took to Tamoanchan. After he had them arrive, the one called Quilachtli ground them, this is Cihuacóatl, who then threw them into the precious basin…; and then Quetzalcóatl bled his virile member over the ground bones to thus form, from that paste, the new men,’ for which it would be said that the groups or peoples that adopted his cult were made or created of blood. or ash. // And in that same historical source it is also said: “What will men eat, oh gods? May corn descend our sustenance. Then Quetzalcóatl asks a red ant that was carrying a grain of corn, where he had found it and it He tells him that in the mountain of our sustenance, in the Tonacatépetl or hill of the harvests; Quetzalcóatl then transforms into a black ant, accompanies the other and rescues the corn from the mountain; and then Quetzalcóatl took him on his back to Tamoanchan, there abundantly the gods ate; (and) then Quetzalcóatl put corn on our lips, so that we would become strong’ // As we said, these mythical events occurred mainly in Tamoanchan, they are closely related to the religion of Quetzalcóatl, the god who was created in Xochicalco as described observed in the decorated basement-temple and in the previously mentioned stelae, for which there is no doubt that Tamoanchan and Xochicalco are the same place; but as happened with Quetzalcóatl, who surrounded himself with mythical and legendary clothing over time , so Tamoanchan also passed to the level of mythology and legend. // In this regard, Plancarte y Navarrete said that ‘all these events took place in the territory that today comprises the State of Morelos, and Tamoanchán is not a mythological and fantastic country, as some claim, but real and true, from which, however, it is later took over mythology’; And, in effect, it happened, because when Xochicalco (Tamoanchán) disappeared as an important religious and commercial center, when it was abandoned and turned into ruins, only the memory of having been the place of origin of Quetzalcóatl, the creator of the Fifth Sun, remained. and of the new humanity, of the discoverer of maize or creator, of the inventor of the calendar and, consequently, the house or home of the new formed man, the house from which they descended”.

Maseual, who in linguistic terms proposes his own orthography, musically develops Quetzalcóatl’s journey to the world of the dead in search of our substance in the Night; he celebrates his meeting and the formation of the dough that we are in six movements: 1) Coatlicue; 2) Mitote in Mictlán; 3) Song of Cacamatzin; 4) Black Naual; 5) Tamoanchán, y 6) Maseual. 

The traditional instruments used here correspond to the Mesoamerican area and were built and tuned by TRIBU according to live models, and, in some cases, to museum pieces – to whose sound, it must be noted, there is no expedited access, much less by the authorities in charge. Even understanding the restrictions as forms of patrimonial zeal, there is a need for a more open policy towards musicians and scholars who, due to proven work and passion, depend on sound knowledge for the development of an art that, ultimately, is also for everyone. The archaeological pieces in their showcases are a gift to the eye and encourage past intelligence. More, in the case of musicals, while their sound remains sealed in their funereal case, they reverse mummies of the spirit and flagrantly but not without remedy contradict their status as a historical legacy whose destiny is life.

There is a controversy that speculates about the truth of the pre-Hispanic use of the musical bow and the pitchers. TRIBU incorporates them without taking more advantage than the one that results from the fact that they are instruments in practice: thus, the bow is Tepehuan and the pitchers are Amuzgos.

Two things should be highlighted from the recording treatment: 1) echo was used for ambience effects on the traditional instruments, and 2) the voices clearly benefited from the multiple effects.

 

1 Coatlicue

In the empty chaos
At the fall of the Sun of the Four Movement
Discarded the Fourth Albur that made the tentative men possible
The Wind and the Vulture’s Wing dispute the spoils of the horizon
And the Mother fans her wrinkled skirt of snakes
The mute assembly of forces sings their future progeny
And she tears the shell of the Turtle
It is that sherd where all the gods are resolved into one
while they paint
The gods consult
Shrub oh Shrub
they mistreat you
they mistreat you
And yet you keep blooming Oh Shrub
The gods like matches are lit against the sandpaper of Night
They drink from the skirt of Coatlicue
the gods are drunk
The gods get drunk on imminence
It smells of fetus and blood in the bowl of women’s empty hands

 

INSTRUMENTS: Trumpets (atecocolli) of snail, gourd and clay; horizontal ground-mounted drum (tlalpanhuehuetl); string of friar bone seeds (ayoyotes); clay ocarinas with two digital holes; drum with gourd box; clay ocarina with four digital holes; turtle shell (ayotl); stormy mud whistle; little wooden drum (xocoyotl huehuetzin); singing stones (tecpacuícatl), and multiple flute (Tenenexpan type).

 

TEXT: The piece is made up of two different and contrasting texts in the Hñahñu (Otomi) language. The first is erotic and the second elegiac. They are the following:

 

Zidoní, zidoní
Didongawá
Dadú-ki
Didongawá

Bi ma mandé
Yabidú
Ra inaní
Manu mansana ansí paté

Little flower, I’m little flower
and i’m blooming here
Let them cut me, let them cut me
I am blooming here

Yesterday left
He’s already dead
I won’t cry anymore
I was left alone in the world

 

Musical instruments and sound crafts of pre-Hispanic Mexico

 

Archaeologists and anthropologists have agreed to divide pre-Hispanic Mexico into two large cultural areas: Arida America to the north and Mesoamerica to the south. However, when talking about musical instruments and sound objects, those from Arida América are included within the Mesoamerican category, mainly because they are of simple invoicing and fewer in number. In Mesoamerica, cultures developed within which artists and craftsmen of remarkable inventiveness flourished, capable of producing a great variety of musical instruments and sound artifacts. Obviously, at different stages and in certain places more than in others, the production reached greater prominence, and even splendor. Under these conditions, distribution through exchange, trade and tax payments was the decisive factor for its diffusion throughout the area. See map.

 

AEROPHONES

 

Way to vibrate the air

Edge: without insufflation channel: a) hole; b) hole with lip support: c) hole with notch

 

with insufflation channel

 

Diaphragm (a): b) defined sound; c) stormy sound

Cup and Reed Mouthpiece

Body shape

Cylindrical: a) vertical and b) horizontal
Conical (c)
Inverted conical (d)
Globular(e)
Polyglobular (f)
Ovoidal (g)
Circular tube (h)
Raft (i)

Way of shortening the cavity to vary the pitch of the sound

Holes; a) plunger; b) obturation; c) labial; d) manual

Timbral modifiers

Kazoo (a)
Post-air duct obstacle (b)
Floating obstacle (c)
Double chamber (d)
Water Whistle (e)

Sound curiosities: a) whistling glass; b) whistling swing pendulum

Whistles: Globular edged or diaphragm aerophones of a single sound (chichtli)

There are simple (a) and multiple (b) types.

Ocarinas: globular-edged aerophones with more than one sound (huilacapiztli): simple (a); double (b)

Flute: Inverted conical tubular or balsa aerophone with more than one sound (tlapitzalli): simple (a); multiple: separate double (b); double joined (c); triple (d); quadruple (e)

Trumpet: Aerophone with cup mouthpiece (atecocolli): gourd (a); mud (b); snail (tecciztli or quiquiztli) (c); stone (d); wood(e); leaves and twig structure (f)

Mixed instruments: Combination of some of the above forming a single body

 

IDIOPHONES

 

JERKS

Rattles: a) sonorous stick or scepter (chicahuaztli); b) vessel with sound background; c) vessel with sound legs; d) incense with sonorous handle (tlemaitl); e) rattle without handle;) rattle with handle (ayacachtli)

Construction materials: wood, cucurbits and mud

Ayochicahuastli: long table on which there were some rattles; It is also called nauacuáuitl.

Rattlesnakes (coyolli); of animal origin: a) butterfly cocoons; b) cut them; c) hooves; d) conches and seashells

of plant origin: e) seeds; f) shells; g) reed

of mineral origin: h) various stones; i) various metal alloys

 

LUDID
a) bone (omichicahuaztli); b) deer horn; c) of wood (cuauchicauastli); d) of stone (tecpatlchicauastli); d) ceramic

The sound is amplified with a gourd resonator

 

PERCUTED
Metal coffer (tzililitl, tetzilácall) (its description is known, but there are no archaeological samples)

a) small cymbals
b) turtle shell (áyotl)
tecomapiloa: teponaztli that had only one tongue above and another below, and on the bottom one hung a gourd (no known archaeological sample)
c) teponazili
d) pitcher
e) sound stones

 

MEMBRANOPHONES

 

Kazoos: timbral modifiers.

Drums (huehuetl): a) friction; b) frame; c) vessel; d) tubular: 1) cylindrical; 2) conical; 3) on tap; 4) elongated; 5) with waist; 6) cup; 7) with legs; 8) U-shaped; 9) globular

Construction materials: wood, clay, gold (teocuitlahuchuetl)
Size: a) small (xocoyotl huehuetzin); b) middle: huehuetl and panhuehuetl); c) big (tlalpanhuehuetl)
They can be found with one or two patches. The latter can be affected both by one and by both patches.
They can be simple or double (e)
Most are hand percussion. Exceptionally, however, different firing pins were used.

How to hold the patch: a) glued; b) nailed; c) buttoned; d) tied

Change of tension in the patch: a) heat; b) rope tensioners

 

CHORDOPHONES

 

Faced with the wide and varied production of Mesoamerican musical instruments and sound objects, the absence of pre-Columbian representations and even passages from chroniclers that illustrate the use of string instruments is surprising. Apart from those who with the air of a parrot speculate about the weight of some taboo on chordophones, there are arguments to support the hypothesis of their use. Charles Lafayette Boiles, for example, remembers that it is not axiomatic that what is not described lacks existence and with good reason assumes the conviction that at least the musical bow, the simplest of string instruments, was used. The following facts support his thesis: 1) several current ethnic groups in the area use the musical bow; 2) there are words in various indigenous Mesoamerican languages to designate it, 3) some features of its use in the area are distinctive and are not found in most African and Afro-American types. The chart below shows the basic characteristics of the musical arcs of Meso and Arida America.

 

I Simple arch
II Bow with peg

a To percussion
b Pressed
c Struck with a bow
d Tension with a wand for basic tones
e Digital fret for basic tones
f Artificial resonator
g Oral MRI
h No harmonic tones
i Achieving harmonic tones with a resonator
j Achievement of harmonic tones with the oral cavity

 

Monochord:
tepeuano (tlahuitol), seri (náacní), cora (coccaxz), huichol (cunamali): I a-f-h

Mayan arch: I a-d-g-j

Huave bow (Zampoña): I b-g-j o I b-e-g-j  (Ignored if digital fret was used)

Chinanteco arch (‘má tu: music stick): I b-e-g-j

Naua arches of Zongolica, Veracruz (acatltzotzontle) yaqui, Mayo, Opata, Pima Bajo, Mexican and Mazatec: II b-e-g-j

Tarahumara arch: II c-e-g-j

 

The traits e-g-j or simply g-j stand out as very common elements in Mesoamerica. These are combinations that do not occur in most African and African-American bows.

 

2 Mitote in Mictlan

Lord of the Dead
Here rises the stench of blood fires
Get that black vapor
Thick as your forehead when we kiss it
lady of the night
with a gleam of light
The footprint of our dancing feet
Cry out for past bodies
music hearts
annunciation medals
Come lady new men as I sing
That women come sir like flowers
Men
Women
Like jade or plant or animal or beast

 

INSTRUMENTS: Musical bow, strings of butterfly cocoons (tenabaris) and circular ocarina of the western Mexican type.

 

TEXT: Sounds of words in embryo. Although loaded with meaning, they are utterances that do not belong to any language itself.

 

3 Song of Cacamatzin

The mirror is an arc and it affects her back
And the child tree wears the drum of the Wind
And in the thicket the birds
Ring it by pecking its foliage
And the leaves like lives of mourning
Yet shaking with laughter
The grave tone chants among the toads the secret of the frogs
To ring the buttocks of a Goddess
The sea gave birth to the shell
Quetzalcoatl dragged her by the hair
fucking her
To the beach
And the music came to the world
Immortal and panting

 

INSTRUMENTS: Stormy clay whistle, musical bow, pitchers, ludida rattle (omichicahuaztli), clay ocarina with one finger hole, clay flute with four finger holes (tlapitzalli) and wooden drum (huehuetl).

 

TEXT: This is a fragment of the Songs of Cacamatzin (Cacamatzin Icuic), a Texcocan poet from the mid-16th century. It is located in the collection of Romance manuscripts of the lords of New Spain. It is the following:

Ayahuiztli moteca,
ma quiquiztla in ihcahuaca
nopan pani tlalticpac.
Tzetzelihui, mimilihui, yahualihui xochitli,
ahuiyaztihuitz in tlalticpac.
O ach, yuhqui nel ye ichan,
totatzın ai,
ach in yuhqui xoxopan in quetzalli,
ya xochitica on tlacuilohua,
tlalticpac ye nican ipalnemohuani.
Chalchiuh teponaztli mimilintocan,
on chalchiuhtlacapitzohuayan,
in itlazo teotl, a in ilhuicahua,
ihui quecholicozcatl
huihuitolihui in tlalticpac.

the mist spreads,
the snails resound,
above me and the whole earth.
The flowers rain, intertwine, spin,
They come to bring joy to the earth.
It’s really, maybe like in his house,
works our father,
perhaps like quetzal plumage in green seasons,
with flowers he shades himself,
here on earth is the Giver of life.
In the place where the precious drums sound,
where the beautiful flutes are heard,
of the precious god, of the owner of heaven,
red feather necklaces
on the earth they tremble.

 

The Spanish version is by Miguel León-Portilla.
The piece also refers to the well-known Nahua legend of the advent of music. Here it is: “When the gods died in Teotihuacan, its priests wandered aimlessly. One of them reached the sea and there Tezcatlipoca spoke to him, instructing him to go and ask the Sun for singers and instruments to honor the memory of the gods. The turtles and fish formed a bridge over the sea for him, which he walked on.He arrived at the abode of the Sun and told him the reason for his trip, but the Sun, not wanting to lessen his court, had warned everyone not to answer him, under penalty of being thrown to Earth. But the priest’s prayers were so heartfelt that Huehuetl and Teponaztli could not resist, they answered and were thrown to Earth. Since then men have music.”

 

4 Black Naual

With Dog’s crusts you can see the dead
Dog’s ears hear his muffled voice
And they reverse it smoking
In the Traveler’s Night
The footsteps of Dog escort the howl of the Guides
The bones that resound loudly
resurrect

 

COMMENT: Although it is an instrumental piece, it makes reference to Xólotl, Quetzalcóatl’s birthplace, who accompanies him on his journey to the world of the dead and helps him in his undertaking. The following fragment from the 1558 Manuscript of Sahagún’s informants collected in the Matritense codex is worth illustrating:

The bones of man were together on one side
And together on the other side those of women
and she took them
and he made a Quetzalcóatl bundle with them.
And once again Mictlantecuhtli said to his servants:
“Gods, is Quetzalcoatl really taking
the precious bones
Gods, go dig a hole.”
Then they went to do it
and Quetzalcóatl fell into the hole,
he tripped and the quails scared him away.
he dropped dead
and the precious bones were scattered there,
that bit and gnawed the quails.
Then Quetzalcóatl is resurrected,
he is afflicted and says to his nahual:
“What will I do, my nahual?”
And he replied:
“Since things went wrong,
let it be as it is.”
He picks them up, puts them together, makes a mess
with them, that later
he took Tamoanchan.

The Spanish version is by Miguel León-Portilla.

 

INSTRUMENTS: Roland D-20 Synthesizer; balsa flute from western Mexican cultures; flute with edge and notch like a quena, made of deer bone (Mixtec type); little clay and wooden drums; electric guitar; clay rattles (ayacachtli); double piston flute from Gulf cultures; percussion of the performer on his own body, and rattle in the form of a scepter (chicauastli).

 

5 Tamoanchán

Quiet celebration of ashes and blood
Calm scrotum that heals
Dripping goodbye and welcoming
Happens
This is your house
the others will arrive soon
And there will be chile and tortilla for everyone
Pulque is the green slime of nauals
Pulque is the white slime of the escuincles
Whose lap houses the monument to the Mother
The pulque is the slime of the snakes on her skirt
Let’s Dance
Let’s sing
Open the flower and be the song
Pulque is the yellow slime of the Feathered Serpent.

 

INSTRUMENTS: Wooden drum; ground mount horizontal drum; multiple clay flute of the Teotihuacan type; diaphragm flute of the Mayan type; teponaztli; ludida rattle already alluded to; hand changeable sound ocarina and lip changeable sound ocarina; water whistle; clay whistle (chichtli); multiple flute of the Tenenexpan type; scepter-shaped rattle; flute with four digital holes from the cultures of western Mexico, and ocarina-bass with four digital holes.

 

TEXT: Traditional invocation of the Huasteca from Hidalgo. Is the next:

 

Techpaleue
Techpanoue
Nochitemis quitlatlanía
Campa timoseuía

Your kingdom come
Happens. This is your house
Here we will meet those who need you
In the place of our rest

 

6 Maseual

We already are
We are already here
Our living flesh and our spirit
They are made with the precious ash from the bones of the dead.
And with the blood of our Father’s cock
Quetzalcoatl
For that blood that runs through our bodies
We move drunk with joy
fearless of life
And crouching death
We’ve only come to dream on Earth
but the flower
But the Song remain
This is the Fifth Sun
And the sun is a dwarf star

 

INSTRUMENTS: Roland D-20 synthesizer, conch trumpet (texictli), gourd trumpet, great Mayan rattle, turtle shell, three héhuetl, tlalpanhuéhuetl and teponaztli.

 

TEXT: Sounds of words in embryo. Although loaded with meaning, they are utterances that do not belong to any language itself.

 

Musical information, collages and illustrations:
Augustin Pimentel.

Orlando Guillén
1990

 

TRIBU: David Méndez Rojas, Alejandro Méndez Rojas, Gilberto Chávez Espinoza, Ramiro Ramírez Duarte, Agustín Pimentel Díaz.
Recording: Area Studies.
Recording and mixing engineer: Arturo Manfredi.
Photography: Marcela R.C. de Artigas.
Production: CADEMAC. Sur 113 B number 2148, Juventino Rosas neighborhood, Mexico 08700 D. F. Telephone: 657-82-26 // La Escondida s/n, Pozos, Guanajuato. CASETA: Phones: 91 468 (8-29-75) (8-25-98) and (8-28-49)
All rights reserved: TRIBU, 1990

 

CADEMAC
Support Center for the Development of Ethnomusicology in Mexico A.C.


Tracklist:

MASEUAL THE MAN OF THIS SUN
SIDE 1
  • A1 Coatlicue
    Performer(s): TRIBU
  • A2 Mitote in Mictlan
    Performer(s): TRIBU
  • A3 Song of Cacamatzin
    Performer(s): TRIBU
  • A4 Black Naual 
    Performer(s): TRIBU
SIDE 2
  • B1 Tamoanchán
    Performer(s): TRIBU
  • B2 Maseual
    Performer(s): TRIBU

Credits:

TRIBU: David Méndez Rojas, Alejandro Méndez Rojas, Gilberto Chávez Espinoza, Ramiro Ramírez Duarte, Agustín Pimentel Díaz.

Recording: Area Studies.

Recording and mixing engineer: Arturo Manfredi.

Photography: Marcela R.C. de Artigas.

Production: CADEMAC


Links:

Tribu (2) – Maseual, The Man of This Sun

Sold For:

Highest Price:
$720 MX
Medium Price:
$540 MX

Condition:

Media Condition:
Mint (M)
Sleeve Condition:
Mint (M)

Other Versions:

Cassette, CD

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