Mexico
Aztec

Wood, hide
ca. Mid 1900s
Height: 12.25 in; Diameter: 7.75 in
Other – Membranophone – Struck Directly

The Aztec pedestal drum is called the ‘huéhuetl.’  “Huéhuetl means: ‘venerable old man’ in Náhuatl, the language of the Aztecs.  This drum has also been recognized as ‘the most venerated of Mexican instruments.’  It shows rich high relief hand carving of iconography that is linked to the imperial era of the Mexicas.  The Mesoamericans played these drums in the celebration of their festivals, ritual acts and in war.  There are three sizes of vertical pedestal drums, the tlalpanhuéhuetl, “drum that is on the ground’, the ‘panhuéhuetl,’ the medium size drum, and the huéhuetl, a smaller drum seen here.

This smaller pedestal drum with hide drumhead (originally, they used jaguar skin), is played with either the hands or in more modern times by a pair of padded sticks.  When played with the hands by a good musician, they could get two pitches a fifth apart by beating either near the rim or near the center.  The drum is cylindrical and stands on three legs with open spaces between the legs.  The reason for the opening is during nighttime rituals it was believed that the spirit of the drum would come alive, when a small, torched stick was lit and slipped between the legs, lighting up the outside carvings from within. The heat from the flame would also remove some of the moisture in the skin and tightening the drumhead.  With no other light, except for the moon and stars, the beating on the drum represented the spirit from within the drum speaking to the people.