The Met's sonic time machine
Seoul's futuristic neon pulse
Lagos's polyrhythmic afrobeat fire
Mexico City's deep Mesoamerican bass
The ultimate digital showdown
themet Mix the beats to learn how ancient Mesoamerican instruments create deep modern basslines.
themet Mesoamerican Bass of Mexico City
Hit that ancient drum, make the dancefloor shake (make it shake!) / Five hundred years of bass in the beats we make (oh yeah!)
themet The vihuela and guitarron, traditional Mexican string instruments, are chopped into rhythmic patterns for electro-cumbia.
Water whistles: Pre-Columbian whistling jars do not need human breath; tilting the water inside forces air out to create bird calls.
themet The Aztec teponaztli, a hollow log drum, is sampled to create punchy, organic techno kicks.
An ancient Mesoamerican slit-drum carved from a hollow log and played with rubber-tipped mallets. A Mexican producer sampled this fifteenth-century Aztec instrument from the museum's collection to make modern beats.
What modern electronic genre, born in Mexico, fuses pre-Hispanic percussion with high-energy synthesizer bass?
Which Mexico City districts are famous for hosting the experimental music producers reclaiming Mesoamerican heritage?
What role does the large, deep-bodied guitarron play in traditional Mexican string ensembles?
Which ancient Andean cultures crafted the clay whistling jars that used water to mimic bird sounds?
How do Chimú whistling jars generate their whistling sound without a human blowing into them?
Which small, high-pitched Mexican string instrument is traditionally used to provide sharp rhythm in mariachi bands?
What type of wood is traditionally chosen to carve a resonant Aztec teponaztli log drum?