Making a Tlapitzalzintli 1
from Templo Mayor, Mexico City Museum
Roberto
Velázquez Cabrera
First
version June 11, 2001. Last actualization 2 September 30, 2001
The objective of this paper is to provide insight into
a possible way that might have been originally used in the construction of four
small Mexica 3 flutes that were on exhibition in the Templo Mayor Museum of Mexico City.
They were found in an Offering of the Game of Balls of the main Tenochtitlan
Ceremonial Center Precint with whistles, models of other musical instruments
(little Teponaztlis 4 and drums of clay ), polished
stones and other artifacts. The tubes of the flutes are closed with a
representation of the face of Xochipilli, who is the god of music,
dance, singing and game.
The Mexica flutes of small format are unique in
archaeological finds and represented for the makers challenging processing,
construction and playing, whose details are currently unknown. The display does
not provide the public with any other information concerning the flutes and
Offering.
I have made copies of the flutes using a very fine
clay, without sand. It is commercially called "Oaxaca". (Oaxaca is a
State of Mexico). It is good for making small pieces and it has a shrinking factor
during drying and burning of ~ 8%. The clay of Mexica flutes seems to be
sandier, but its analysis is not known. The copy obtained in the exercise
described below is not necessarily exact in its dimensions and forms, since
drawings or x-rays of the flutes are not available, and access to the flutes
for measurement is restricted. The flutes’ size are between 7.2 and 7.6 cm.
They are of similar size but nor equal. The estimation of the measurements from
the ancient aerophones were obtained using techniques from copyists like
Leonardo da Vincy and a good program for printing digital photos like Fotoshop.
Now, I can not put here a photo of the original model because it is necessary
to have a permit to do it.
Considering previous experiences in the construction
of this type of Mexica flutes and the visual analysis of the little
flutes in the display cabinet and other broken flutes of the same structure, it
is very probable that the original construction used several pieces and very
delicate processes. The main manual work steps and tools may be the following:
Note. A click in the Photo number of each section
leads to an illustrative image.
Photo 1. Several tools of
wood and clay. Little sticks: a conical one to mold the resonator tube;
flattened and sharpened ones to make the mouth, the edge and wind way; and a
round one to drill the pitch holes. A clay mold may be used to make the Xochipolli
face.
Photo 2. The resonator
tube can be formed with a "tortilla" of clay. There are several ways
to make a suitable "tortilla" or a plain piece of clay of
predetermined thickness. One of them involves two little slabs of the desired
thickness. Two flattened sticks or thin trowels can be used (2 mm) and a round
wood roller employed in a manner similar to that used in forming a flat mass of
wheat dough. The resulting thickness is between 2 and 3 mm. A second approach
involves the more common process used in making "tortillas" of maize,
using a wooden press.
Photo 3. The clay
"tortilla" is coiled around a stick, which is slightly conical and
thinner in the far distal end and made of the desired thickness.
Photo 4. The tube is
smoothed and cut at both ends (inclined a little) to the desired length (this
is not known with precision) anticipating the reduction of the clay after its
drying and burning.
Photo 5. A round stick can
be used to mark and create the four pitch holes.
Photo 6. With a sharpened
and flattened stick it is possible to cut and to mold the mouth and its blade
(bevel or edge).
Photo 7. A very
delicate operation is the flattening of the bevel and shaping it into a wedge.
Photo 8. The pitch holes
are sharpened and the internal flashes are eliminated. The pitch holes and the
bevel can be done after covering the tube and putting in the wind way, but this
makes it difficult to flatten the holes on the inside, to avoid turbulence
which can interfere with the production of pure sounds.
Photo 9. The back of the
tube is covered with a flattened piece of clay.
Photo 10. The back piece is
flattened at the same level of the superior (upper) part of the sonorous hole
or mouth and opposite the face of the bevel or edge.
Photo 11. With another
strip of flattened clay the wind way (or air channel) is molded placing it
around a stick with the internal form of the wind way. The making of the wind
way in a separate form, and its patching to the flute body, is a common
practice in many ancient Mexica aerophones (whistles, ocarinas and
flutes). This can be verified by observing some broken aerophones in Museums,
like the one of Xochimilco or in a whistle from Texcoco that I was able to see.
Photo 12. The molded wind
way is placed upon the previously prepared mouth and edge. The direction of the
wind way must be adjusted so that the instrument generates clear and strong
sounds as the jet stream is split by the edge. It may be necessary to sharpen
the bevel. This is an operation of great refinement and gentleness. One tenth
of millimeter can make the difference between good sounds and silence
Photo 13. The molded wind
way is patched to the tube using two small pieces of flattened clay with the
form of a virgule (that also is an ancient symbol related to speaking and
singing) in the two sides of the voicing. They also serve as guide for the exit
air. The sonorous mechanism must be proved and if it is required it is possible
to make new adjustments. The external and inner forms of the mouth are
sharpened and aligned.
Photo 14. The face is
molded using a piece of clay and the mold.
Photo 15. The back part of
the face in the mold is flattened, placed and beaten to the front of the little
flute.
Photo 16. The patch is
reinforced, with small pieces of clay, having the opportunity to make lateral
and superior adjustments to the hair and adornments.
Photo 17. This is the
finished flute before firing. Which we can retouch to improve the sonorous
mechanism then it is good to let it dry slowly in the shade. After several days
it is put in the sun several hours, and then it can be fired with wood or
charcoal. Because of its small format and thickness it can be burned in a
brazier used for barbecue. It seems that the original flutes did not have
painted decorations.
Photo 18. This is the flute
after firing.
General comments.
1. The main relevance of this work of a modern tlapitzcalzin
5 is that it provides the first known detailed description of
the possible steps used in the making of a relevant ancient clay aerophone.
2. Similar procedures, with small changes, can be
applied to other relevant known Mexica flutes like those called muy
agudas, Tezcatlipoca, flutes classified by Leopoldo Batres, like the
130 that was analyzed by the author previously, and other from different
cultures.
3. Those Mexican flutes can be very similar to the
modern recorder, but they were constructed and used many centuries before the
perfection of the recorder in other geographical areas.
4.The work will be complemented by the analysis of
several experimental replicas and, if it is possible, with the analysis of the
flutes from the museum. The final version of this short paper 6 will
be included in a Chapter of the study on those little flutes.
Notes.
- Tlapitzalzintli means little
flute in Nahuatl, the Mexica language. But this Mexica
diminutive means more reverence that smallness. The original designation
of those little aerophones was lost and the actual names of whistles,
recorders, flutes and ocarinas do not adapt well to them.
- The last
version of the text was possible thanks to the corrections made by
Professor in Chemistry Dr. Ray Dessy, who is also expert in acoustics and
lover of flutes and ocarinas. He is interested in ancient aerophones.Other corrections were made by Guillermo Velázquez.
- Mexica (Aztec)
is the people and culture that lived in Tenochtitlan, before the
Conquest
- Teponaztli is Mexican
drum of hard wood that produce two sounds or notes.
- Tlapitzcalzin
titeraly means Sir of the flutes house. He was one of the two
priest of the Cuicacali (school of music and singing). He provided the instruments
for their music.
- Consultation.
This working paper is for public consultation. I will welcome opinions on
better possible way to improve the construction. I posted the paper in
several specialized forums like Musical
Instruments Maker Forum and Ocarinaclub from Yahoo. I did not
get any opinion to improve the construction. The only opinion was from the Cortes brothers from
Texcoco, the best Mexican makers of clay singers that I could find.
Usually, they make the tone holes and the edge after the assembly of the
aerophone, to be able to make them very fast. If this procedure was used
in the past, the ancient aerophones must have internal flashes.