etl_ and the _teponaztli_.

The word _huehuetl_ means something old, something ancient, and
therefore important and great. The drum so-called was a hollow
cylinder of wood, thicker than a man's body, and usually about five
palms in height. The end was covered with tanned deerskin, firmly
stretched. The sides were often elaborately carved and tastefully
painted. This drum was placed upright on a stand in front of the
player and the notes were produced by striking the parchment with the
tips of the fingers.

A smaller variety of this instrument was called _tlapanhuehuetl_, or
the half drum, which was of the same diameter but only half the
height.[27] Still another variety was the _yopihuehuetl_, "the drum
which tears out the heart,"[28] so called either by reason of its
penetrating and powerful sound, or because it was employed at the
_Yopico_, where that form of human sacrifice was conducted.

The _teponaztli_ was a cylindrical block of wood hollowed out below,
and on its upper surface with two longitudinal parallel grooves
running nearly from end to end, and a third in the centre at right
angles to these, something in the shape of the letter I. The two
tongues left between the grooves were struck with balls of rubber,
_ulli_, on the ends of handles or drum sticks. These instruments
varied greatly in size, some being five feet in length, and others so
small that they could conveniently be carried suspended to the neck.
The _teponaztli_ was the house instrument of the Nahuas. It was
played in the women's apartments to amuse the noble ladies, and the
war captains carried one at the side to call the attention of their
cohorts on the field of battle (Sahagun). The word is derived from
the name of the tree whose wood was selected to make the drum, and
this in turn from the verb _tepunazoa_, to swell, probably from some
peculiarity of its growth.[29]

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]

The musical properties of these drums