Note 30 — INTRODUCTION.
Reading edition
A much superior instrument to the teponaztli, and doubtless a development from it, was the tecomapiloa, "the suspended vase" (tecomatl, gourd or vase, piloa, to hang or suspend). It was a solid block of wood, with a projecting ridge on its upper surface and another opposite, on its lower aspect; to the latter one or more gourds or vases were suspended, which increased and softened the sound when the upper ridge was struck with the ulli.30 This was undoubtedly the origin of the marimba, which I have described elsewhere.31