Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Textbook Basic Music Technology An Introduction Guerino Mazzola Ebook All Chapter PDF
Textbook Basic Music Technology An Introduction Guerino Mazzola Ebook All Chapter PDF
https://textbookfull.com/product/the-topos-of-music-i-theory-
guerino-mazzola/
https://textbookfull.com/product/the-topos-of-music-iv-roots-
guerino-mazzola/
https://textbookfull.com/product/cool-math-for-hot-music-a-first-
introduction-to-mathematics-for-music-theorists-1st-edition-
guerino-mazzola/
https://textbookfull.com/product/satellite-technology-an-
introduction-inglis/
Water science and technology : an introduction Fourth
Edition Gray
https://textbookfull.com/product/water-science-and-technology-an-
introduction-fourth-edition-gray/
https://textbookfull.com/product/basic-pathology-fifth-edition-
an-introduction-to-the-mechanisms-of-disease-sunil-r-lakhani/
https://textbookfull.com/product/technology-and-world-politics-
an-introduction-1st-edition-daniel-r-mccarthy/
https://textbookfull.com/product/statistical-methods-an-
introduction-to-basic-statistical-concepts-and-analysis-2nd-
edition-cheryl-ann-willard/
https://textbookfull.com/product/basic-mandarin-chinese-reading-
writing-textbook-an-introduction-to-written-chinese-for-
beginners-cornelius-c-kubler/
Computational Music Science
G. Mazzola · Y. Pang
W. Heinze · K. Gkoudina
G. Afrisando Pujakusuma
J. Grunklee · Z. Chen
T. Hu · Y. Ma
Basic Music
Technology
An Introduction
Computational Music Science
Series editors
Guerino Mazzola
Moreno Andreatta
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/8349
Guerino Mazzola • Yan Pang • William Heinze
Kyriaki Gkoudina • Gian Afrisando Pujakusuma
Jacob Grunklee • Zilu Chen • Tianxue Hu
Yiqing Ma
Yiqing Ma
School of Music
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis, MN, USA
This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
Preface
The idea for this book came from one of my students, Yiqing Ma, in my course
Introduction to Music Information Technology. She suggested that we should
continue our tradition of writing textbooks for my university courses at the
School of Music of the University of Minnesota, a tradition that has successfully
produced the books Cool Math for Hot Music [42] and All About Music [43] for
Springer’s series Computational Music Science.
Writing this third textbook was a challenge in that our presentation of ba-
sic music technology not only comprises core concepts from acoustics and analog
and digital approaches to this specific knowledge, but also includes computa-
tional aspects with their mathematical and software-oriented specifications. It
was our aim to transcend a purely qualitative discussion of recent progress by
a rigorous introduction to the quantitative, mathematical, and computational
methods that are crucial for the understanding of what is at stake in this fas-
cinating field of computer-aided musical creativity and data management.
This textbook is addressed to anyone who wants to learn the core method-
ologies of this field from the very beginning. Besides our experience with the
students’ learning curve during their pedagogical development in the course, we
decided to produce a text that can be understood by undergraduate students
of music, and not only by an audience that already knows mathematical and
computational methods and facts. Our approach was therefore driven by the
condition that every single sentence of this book must be stated in a style that
can be appreciated by non-specialist readers.
To this end, the co-authors of the book were asked to collaboratively
create a text that meets their basic qualification of interested and intelligent,
but not yet specialized participants. The co-authors are undergraduate students
Yiqing Ma (music/psychology), Tianxue Hu (music/mathematics), Zilu Chen
(music/computer science), and Jacob Grunklee (electrical engineering/music),
and graduate music students Yan Pang, Bill Heinze, Jay Afrisando, and Kakia
Gkoudina.
v
vi Preface
This pool of students guarantees that the present text is accessible to the
non-specialist audience. This setup of co-authors defines an approach that is
more than a first presentation of our material, it is a communicative singularity
that creates a bridge between a highly innovative technology and its precise and
thorough comprehension. It is our strong belief that this endeavor will help fill
the difficult gap between application and understanding. Figure -1.1 shows our
co-author group in a happy mood after the accomplishment of our project.
This book also gives access to a number of sound examples. Here is how
to find them online: The music examples in this book are available as MIDI,
Sibelius, or MP3 files. They are all accessible via
www.encyclospace.org/special/BMTBOOK.
So if you are looking for the file XX.mid, you define the address
www.encyclospace.org/special/BMTOOK/XX.mid.
We are pleased to acknowledge the strong support for writing such a
demanding treatise from Springer’s computer science editor Ronan Nugent.
Fig. -1.1: From left to right, top row: Jacob Grunklee, Jay Afrisando; middle row:
Tianxue Hu, Zilu Chen, Yiqing Ma; front row: Bill Heinze, Guerino Mazzola, Yan
Pang, Kakia Gkoudina.
Contents
Part I Introduction
1 General Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3 Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.1 Acoustic Reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.2 Sound Anatomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.3 The Communicative Dimension of Sound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.3.1 Poiesis, Neutral Level, Esthesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3.4 Hearing with Ear and Brain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
5 Musical Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.1 Classification of Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
5.2 Flutes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
5.3 Reed Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
5.4 Brass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
vii
viii Contents
5.5 Strings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
5.6 Percussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
5.7 Piano . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
5.8 Voice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
5.9 Electronic Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
5.9.1 Theremin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
5.9.2 Trautonium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
5.9.3 U.P.I.C. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
5.9.4 Telharmonium or Dynamophone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
5.9.5 MUTABOR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
8 Finite Fourier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
8.1 Finite Fourier Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
8.2 Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
8.2.1 Fourier via Complex Numbers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
8.2.2 The FFT Algorithm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
8.3 Compression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
8.4 MP3, MP4, AIFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
9 Audio Effects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
9.1 Filters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
9.2 Equalizers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
9.3 Reverberation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
9.4 Time and Pitch Stretching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Contents ix
13 Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
13.1 Anatomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
13.2 Hierarchy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
15 Denotators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
16 Rubato . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
16.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
16.2 Rubettes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
16.3 The Software Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
18 Max . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
18.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
18.2 Short History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
18.3 Max Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
18.4 Some Technical Details . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
18.5 Max Artists . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 187
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Part I
Introduction
1
General Introduction
Acoustic Reality
3
Sound
direction of the sound propagation away from the sound source. If they carry
the pitch, the variation of pressure is periodic, i.e., a snapshot of the pressure
shows a regularly repeated pressure along the sound’s expansion in space. The
time period P of this regularity, as shown in Figure 3.2, defines the sound’s
frequency f = 1/P . For example, the chamber pitch a1 has frequency 440 Hz
(Hz (Hertz) is the frequency unit, i.e., periods per second). And going an
octave higher means doubling the frequency; therefore, the octave a2 above
a1 has frequency 880 Hz. Pitch is related to frequency f by the formula
P itch(f ) = log1200
10 (2)
log10 (f ) + C Hz.
The wave’s pressure amplitude A (relative to the normal pressure) is per-
ceived as loudness. For example, the minimal loudness that can be perceived
by the human ear at 1, 000 Hz is A0 = 2.105 N m−2 . Loudness for amplitude
A is then defined by l(A) = 20. log10 (A/A0 ) dB, where the unit dB is decibel.
A sound is a wave, starting at an onset time, lasting a certain time (its du-
ration), and during that time showing the amplitude and periodicity discussed
above. Taking this kind of object as an element of music, however is a problem.
To begin with, it is not clear why these attributes should hold during the entire
sound. Why should amplitude be constant? A sound may well increase its loud-
ness. And then, why is the pitch constant? What about glissandi? And finally,
where do we find reference to the sound color, the instrumental characteristic?
Onset, duration, loudness, pitch, instrument name—all of this is described
in classical score notation. But only when comparing these forms to the real
time is the same as the value at the position traversed by the wave at the earlier
time t.
14 3 Sound
sound events does one become aware that one can create richer musical compo-
sitions. We shall come back to such options in the discussion of sound synthesis
methods, such as Fourier, FM, wavelets, and physical modeling.
Summary. Apart from the acoustic elements that comprise the nature of the
interaction between sound and the human ear, there are dimensions in the
nature of sound that profile its ontology. These include: Reality, Communica-
tion, and Semiosis. In this section we are going to discuss the communicative
dimension of sound.
–Σ–
to the esthetic level. A good example is free jazz: The performers compose on
the spot and interact with each other, an intact compositional outcome. Nev-
ertheless, it is common that concepts from the poietic realm are falsely used
at the esthesic level, confusing the distinction between the productive and the
perceptive processes, obscuring the creator’s and the listener’s different posi-
tions in the timeline of the work’s realization. Poietic and esthesic levels meet
only when the compositional process is approached in retrograde; in retrograde
poiesis the creator is the first observer of the work and, therefore, retrograde
poiesis is incorporated in esthesis.
Fig. 3.3: Poiesis Fig. 3.4: Neutral level Fig. 3.5: Esthesis
for the ossicles to create a pressure difference that propagates in the new fluid
medium, they concentrate the force of vibrations at the oval window, a bridge
between the middle ear and the cochlea (see Figure 3.6) directly connected to
the stapes. In addition to the oval window, the cochlea has a round window,
which dampens the vibrations that have traveled through the cochlea. With-
out the round window, the residual vibration would cause us to hear everything
twice, like an echo. This would inundate the brain with an excessive amount of
auditory information.
Fig. 3.6: Section of Cochlea. IHC: Inner Hair Cells, OHC: Outer Hair Cells, BM:
Basilar Membrane. The scala vestibuli receives the vibrations of the oval window.
The cochlea is shaped like a hollow spiral. Inside this ‘snail’s shell’ is the
basilar membrane, which contains 20,000 neural hair cells responsible for coding
vibrations in the fluid into electrical signals.
Now that sound has been translated from pressure differences in the air
into electrical impulses in the cochlea’s hair cells, what happens next? In short,
the body’s equivalent of electrical wiring takes on the responsibility of getting
that information to the brain, where it can be processed. This network is known
as the , and it is based on electrical and chemical communication between
neurons.
Once this information is received by the neurons, it is sent to the auditory
cortex in the temporal lobe of the brain. The auditory cortex translates this
information into what we perceive as pitch. After this point, it is unclear exactly
how the brain is able to translate pitch, rhythm, articulation, and other aspects
of music into a profound cognitive and emotional experience. However, it is clear
that listening to music affects many parts of the brain, influencing parts of the
brain responsible for pleasure (i.e., the nucleus accumbens) and emotion (e.g.,
the amygdala and hippocampus).
The amazing neurological influence of music is not restricted to music lis-
tening, but extends to music playing and learning. In fact, learning an instru-
ment produces significant changes in the brain that can change one’s behavior
and ability. For example, Oechslin et al. [48] found that individuals who par-
ticipated in music lessons for a number of years were found to have a greater
hippocampal volume (meaning they experience music emotion at a higher level)
3.4 Hearing with Ear and Brain 17
than those who did not take lessons. Oechslin and his colleagues also found that
individuals with higher hippocampal volume tested higher on creative aptitude
tests. The researchers attributed increased creative aptitude to the increased
hippocampal volume.
Music is not only a fascinating topic of neuroscientific study, but (due to
its ability to activate a wide variety of brain areas) it also plays an important
role in teasing apart different parts of neuroscience and making new discoveries.
Music is not only a sensationally rich stimulus. It has an astonishing ability to
access and trigger our thoughts and emotions. Given its omnipresence in the
brain, surely we can say that music is an intrinsic component of the human
experience.
4
Standard Sound Synthesis
Using very simple devices that act like ‘atomic instruments’, it is possible to
produce a complex sound that not only shares the usual musical sound parame-
ters, such as pitch, onset, duration, and loudness, but also instrumental timbre
or sound color.
Fig. 4.2: Joseph Fourier’s theorem, discovered in research about heat conductance
around 1800, provides a first model of sound as composed of ‘atomic’ sound shapes:
sinusoidal functions.
Recall that the pitch of a sounding periodic air pressure vibration w(t) is
1
proportional to the logarithm of its frequency f = P eriod . Fourier’s theorem
then states that w(t) can be expressed in a unique way as a sum of sinusoidal
functions, or, so to speak, as a sum of those atomic instruments given by masses
and springs (see Figure 4.2). Uniqueness means that for the given frequency f
of w(t), the amplitudes A0 , A1 , A2 , . . . and the phases P h1 , P h2 , . . . are uniquely
determined (and called the amplitude and phase spectrum, respectively). The
nth component function An sin(2πnf t + P hn ) is called the nth partial or over-
tone of w(t).
Let us describe how the Fourier theorem is related to realistic sounds. We
can see that the wave function w(t) (at a fixed spatial position) is anything
but natural. In reality no such infinitely lasting regular air vibration can occur.
The relationship to realistic sounds can be seen in Figure 4.3. If a singer sings
“laaaa” at a determined pitch, the pressure variation around the mean pressure
looks like a bundle, as shown at the top of Figure 4.3. The bundle can be
described by its envelope, i.e., the locally maximal pressure variations (shown
at the left bottom), and by a periodic excitation of pressure, limited by the
envelope, and shown at the right bottom.
4.1 Fourier Theory 21
Fig. 4.3: When a singer sings the syllable “laaaa” at a determined pitch, the pressure
variation around the mean pressure looks like a bundle as shown on top. The bundle
can be described by its envelope, i.e., the locally maximal pressure variations (shown
at the left bottom), and by a periodic excitation of pressure, limited by the envelope,
and shown to the right bottom.
Fig. 4.4: The combination of envelope and periodic function yields the realistic sound.
duration and maximal excitation both = 1), and then shifted and squeezed by
a support to yield theonset, duration, and amplitude of the real sound.
In technological modeling of this building process, the envelope is often
represented as a very simple shape, following the ADSR (Attack Decay Sustain
Release) model, as shown in Figure 4.5. Attack is characterized by the time
that passes while the spectrum of the sound is formed. The attack of a sound
is a major indicator of the instrument used. For example, a guitar might sound
like a bell without the guitar’s distinctive attack. Sustain refers to the steady
state of sound when it reaches its highest energy. Finally, decay is defined by
the rate at which the intensity of the sound disappears to silence. Every sound
has a particular pattern of attack, sustain, and decay; therefore the envelope
of a sound is characteristic of the sound.
Although this seems to describe realistic sounds quite faithfully, it turns
out that instrumental sounds are more complex in that the partials are given
independent amplitude envelopes that enable the sound to have variable over-
tones as it evolves in time. Figure 4.6 shows such a situation for a trumpet
sound. The graphic displays envelopes for each partial, and we see that higher
partials have lower and shorter envelopes, meaning that the amplitudes of these
partials contribute for only a short time and to a lower degree to the overall
sound. The display of these temporally variable overtone envelopes is called a
chronospectrum.
Fig. 4.5: The envelope is often represented as a very simple shape, following the
so-called ADSR (Attack Decay Sustain Release) model.
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
ranks of the assailants pressed them with swords and clubs.[743]
Short as was the distance to the fort, much time was occupied in
reaching it, and hardly a man escaped injury. Alvarado was severely
wounded, while one soldier and a number of allies were slain.
FOOTNOTES
[711] Cartas, 124; Cortés, Residencia, ii. 12. Bernal Diaz confirms that this was
effected long before dawn, while Herrera states that 300 held out till morning; but
he is contradictory. Carrasco, whom he assumes to be free, urged them to fall
upon the attacking party, who were scattered to plunder. But this was not done for
want of a leader. Nor did they favor his advice to plunder the baggage of Cortés,
which was protected only by Indians, and to embark with Diego Velazquez.
Carrasco accordingly proceeded alone to the baggage camp, and securing a
horse and lance he returned and urged them to follow. He had evidently
supernatural means wherewith to penetrate the besieging force. dec. ii. lib. x. cap.
iv. Duran allows Cortés to form ambuscades and leap walls, so that the arms are
secured ere the men of Narvaez can form in defence. Hist. Ind., MS., ii. 453. Peter
Martyr disposes briefly of the matter, and assumes that the chief captains of
Narvaez were seduced. dec. v. cap. v.; Castellanos, Varones ilustres de Indias,
71-2; Galvano’s Discov., 144-5.
[712] ‘Cortes se mandò pregonar por Capitan general, y justicia mayor, de ambos
exercitos.’ Carrasco was three days in stocks before he yielded obedience.
Herrera, ubi sup. ‘Y todo esto era de noche, que no amanecia.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist.
Verdad., 99.
[713] ‘Viua, viua la gala de los Romanos, que siẽdo tan pocos, han vencido a
Narvaez!’ to which Guidelo, the negro jester of Narvaez, added, ‘Behold! the
Romans never performed such a feat.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 99. Herrera
speaks more at length of the sayings of this negro, who was rewarded with a
crown of gold worth 600 ducats. dec. ii. lib. x. cap. iv.
[714] ‘I saw Narvaez in Spain in 1525, and heard him publicly denounce Cortés as
a traitor. He asked but royal permission to prove it, face to face with his enemy;
furthermore, he was a liar, a tyrant, and an ingrate. Narvaez had been betrayed by
those in whom he confided.’ Oviedo, iii. 316. Still, the chronicler cannot excuse his
carelessness nor his entering into parley with Cortés; and he told him so. iii. 316.
[715] Bernal Diaz mentions fifteen [a misprint of dos for doce makes it only five
deaths among Narvaez’ men, including Captain Rojas, Alférez Fuentes, who was
an hidalgo of Seville, and Carretero, one of the deserters from Cortés’ explorers.
Cortés lost four. Hist. Verdad., 99. Cortés prudently mentions to the king only two
deaths, but leaves it uncertain to what side they belonged. Cartas, 124. Gomara
claims them for Cortés, and states that Narvaez lost his eye, his honor, and
sixteen men. Hist. Mex., 148. Cortés lost two men and one wounded; Narvaez
eleven. Herrera, dec. ii. lib. x. cap. iv. Cortés four, Narvaez eleven, besides many
wounded on both sides. Vetancvrt, Teatro Mex., pt. iii. 138. Solis supposes that
two wounded of Cortés’ army died, making four in all, while Narvaez lost fifteen.
Hist. Mex., ii. 101. One version claims that Narvaez lost fifteen by arms and six by
fire in the burning of the quarters, which is probably an exaggeration. Narvaez lost
all his property, including notes of hand. Demanda de Ceballos, in Icazbalceta,
Col. Doc., i. 442. The testimony in Cortés, Residencia, i. ii., varies from twelve to
sixteen for Narvaez.
[716] Oviedo looks on Cortés’ reasons as insufficient to justify his procedure, such
as ordering Narvaez to be seized, and demanding of him to exhibit a royal
commission, ‘as if Cortés had been appointed by the king.’ Velazquez, as the
principal who sent him forth, had every right to remove him. iii. 316.
[717] Bernal Diaz places the number at 1500, while Ceballos raises it to 3000,
under Heredia, and places the arrival a day or two later. Herrera assumes that
they came in time to march with Cortés on Cempoala. dec. ii. lib. x. cap. i.
[718] Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 100, names Francisco de Lugo as the captain of
this party, but Tirado states that he had been sent back to Mexico as an adherent
of Velazquez. Cortés, Residencia, ii. 6. ‘Dió con los once navios que el dicho mi
parte allí tenia, al través, é les fizo quemar.’ Demanda de Ceballos, in Icazbalceta,
Col. Doc., i. 442. Bernal Diaz also intimates that all but two vessels were
destroyed when the army proceeded to Mexico and one afterward. Hist. Verdad.,
109. It is not probable, however, that more than a few were destroyed, because
unseaworthy. Some were wrecked a few months later.
[719] ‘Por Almirãte, y Capitan de la mar ... al qual dizen que le dió primero buenos
tejuelos de oro.’ His baptismal name was either Juan or Pedro. Two vessels were
still expected to arrive. Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 100, 113. Caballero was
probably an old friend. ‘Pedro de Maluenda criado de Diego Velazquez, que venia
por mayordomo de Naruaez, recogio y guardo los nauios y todo la ropa y
hazienda.’ Gomara, Hist. Mex., 148. By Cortés’ order, adds Herrera.
[723] Gomara, Hist. Mex., 149. ‘Dos dias después de preso el dicho Narvaez,
porque en aquella ciudad no se podia sostener tanta gente ... despaché dos
capitanes.’ Cortés, Cartas, 125. Cortés writes that before leaving for Mexico he
sent Mexican envoys to obtain the friendship and allegiance of the lord of Pánuco.
This was at once offered, and presents were exchanged. Id., 56-7, 125, 144-45.
Cortés was either deceived or he invented the story to counteract Garay’s
schemes. Bernal Diaz names Ordaz for Goazacoalco and Velazquez for Pánuco;
but it has entirely escaped his memory or notes that Velazquez had already been
charged to form a colony in Goazacoalco, for which he was also better fitted, while
Ordaz was more suited for rough warfare in Pánuco. This author gives to each
120 men, twenty of them from the ranks of Cortés, ‘porq̄ teniã mas experiẽcia en
la guerra.’ Hist. Verdad., 100. The 200 allowed by others may include the ship-
crews. Herrera places 300 men under Ordaz. dec. ii. lib. x. cap. iv.
[724] For description of the feast, so as better to understand what follows, see
Native Races, ii. 317-21, iii. 422-8.
[725] Oviedo refers the council and its acts only to the time immediately preceding
Cortés’ departure, iii. 509.
[726] ‘Esto afirmaron muchas mugeres, de las quales se sabia siẽpre la verdad.’
Herrera, dec. ii. lib. x. cap. viii.
[727] ‘Nos quitaron la comida e enbiando por ella no nos la quisieron dar e nos
davan de palos a las naborias e estando lavando una yndia de las nuestras la
hahogaron e dezian e publicavan que asy avian de hazer a los españoles.’
Ramirez, Proceso contra Alvarado, 66. This testimony is confirmed by a number of
his followers.
[728] ‘Con muchas escalas para subir y matar a los españoles.’ Id., 67. Martin, in
Id., 144.
[729] ‘Le prince acolhua Tecocoltzin.’ Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., iv.
287.
[730] ‘A number of poles were raised in the court-yard, destined, as I was told, to
impale the Spaniards, one taller than the rest upon the pyramid being reserved for
me.’ Alvarado, in Ramirez, Proceso contra Alvarado, 66.
[731] Alvarado’s statements with regard to reports and signs of revolt, and to the
confession of several natives, is confirmed by a number of witnesses, including
the clergyman Juan Diaz. Id., 66, 113, et seq. Tapia, who is arrayed against
Alvarado, intimates that torture induced the natives to give the confirmation of the
plot as desired by the Spanish captain, and that the interpreter was unreliable.
One witness declares that the uprising was understood to be planned to take
place within ten days; another says on the day following the torture, intimating that
it was to be after the great dances. Id., 37, 150. ‘Alvarado dixo, que luego le auian
de venir a dar guerra ... que lo supo de vn Papa, y de dos Principales, y de otros
Mexicanos.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 102.
[732] Tapia’s testimony to this and other criminating points is particularly valuable,
as he was a bitter opponent of Alvarado. The latter states that Montezuma
declared himself powerless to prevent the premeditated sacrilege to the Christian
images. Ramirez, Proceso contra Alvarado, 36-7, 66-7. But this plea, if made,
must, according to other accounts, be interpreted to apply only to pagan
ceremonies, held almost before the images, and which might be regarded as a
sacrilege. Torquemada writes that arms had been collected within the temple and
everything prepared for the day when the Spaniards attended by invitation to
witness the dance of the nobles. At a given signal an evidently simultaneous
attack was to be made on the assembled guests and on the fort, thus taking the
Spaniards at a disadvantage. Jars stood prepared, filled with certain liquids,
wherein to cook their bodies for the feast. i. 489-90. The general inclination of
those who follow the Spanish version, of which Torquemada, usually so stanch for
the natives, is here the best exponent, has been to assume that the attack was
arranged for the day of the great dances; and this is not unlikely, although the
original writers and their commentators appear to be ignorant of or oblivious to
certain features of the festival. Another view has been to place the attack during
the installation of the new image of the war-god. This ceremony belonged to the
preceding day, a fact not as a rule understood, and therefore the source of much
confusion. Brasseur de Bourbourg, who is clearest on these points, assumes that
the raising of the idol would involve the casting forth of the Christian emblems, and
be the signal for attack. But evidences are conclusive that the natives were not
ready on that day. They were too occupied with the celebration, and Alvarado, with
his small force, was not so negligent as to wait till the last moment, when the
enemy was fully prepared. He and several of his men indicate clearly enough that
they attended the temple at the installation. The uprising must therefore have been
appointed for the following or even a later day. See note 25. Vetancurt, Teatro
Mex., iii. 139, is among the authorities who follow the version of Torquemada in
general. One of the fervid-minded witnesses of Alvarado repeats the account of
pots and jars for cooking the Spaniards. Helps supposes that Huitzilopochtli’s
festival had not yet been entered upon, and that Tezcatlipoca’s image is the one in
question; but the Spaniards, who knew the difference between these idols, all
affirm that the celebration of the war-god was now held. See Ramirez, Proceso
contra Alvarado, 69, 113, 130, 137, and 150.
[733] This received support from his neglect to interfere when supplies were cut
down. Even Tapia refers to a change in his disposition, and to Alvarado’s
displeasure thereat, but his words may apply to the stoppage either of supplies or
of presents. Id., 36. Want of power could not be pleaded by Montezuma, because
a few days later, when the natives were far more embittered both against the
Spaniards and against their captive sovereign, the latter was able by a mere
appeal to stay their onslaught. The testimony speaks not only of an undermined
wall and scaling ladders, but of weapons, ‘porras y otras armas,’ and of
conspirators within the fort. Id., 67, 113, et seq. Gomara says that his love for the
Spaniards has been denied by some. Hist. Mex., 154-5; but Bernal Diaz will not
believe Montezuma guilty of conspiracy. Hist. Verdad., 102. The grief of the
Spaniards at his death, and the care taken of his children, indicate that they and
the crown regarded him as loyal.
[735] Alvarado and his men in more than one instance indicate the day when the
dough idol was raised. Id., 67, 113, 134. Ixtlilxochitl points to the following greater
day, which he dates May 19th. Relaciones, 412. Sahagun is not so definite, but his
editor accepts the chief day, calling it whitsunday, May 27th. Hist. Conq. (ed.
1840), 99. In another place he says May 25th. Tezcuco en los ultimos tiempos,
274. One of Alvarado’s men states that it was a Thursday. Ramirez, Proceso
contra Alvarado, 131.
[736] The testimony of the conquerors, confirmed by native paintings and records,
leaves no doubt that the dance of the nobles and the massacre took place in the
great temple adjoining the fort. Ramirez, Proceso, 37 et seq. Acosta writes,
however, that they occurred in the palace, Hist. Ind., 522, and he is partly right,
since a massacre was carried out here also. Clavigero follows Acosta, and
assumes that the fort is meant. He argues that the dance was held there so that
the emperor might, as customary, be present, and that a massacre could not have
been undertaken by so few Spaniards in the great temple, where the arsenals
were situated, and where the concourse of people must have been very large.
Storia Mess., iii. 118. The Spaniards had forbidden the use of arms during the
festival, and none appear to have been produced in the temple. Among other
precautions Alvarado appears to have insisted on a small attendance beyond that
of nobles, and most authorities so accept it.
[738] ‘Que no quedaron sino el dicho Montezuma y quinze o veynte criados,’ says
the charge against Alvarado. Ramirez, Proceso, 4, 20, 37, 43. This generally
ignored part of the massacre finds also indirect confirmation in the diffuse
testimony to the finding of concealed weapons among the attendants of
Montezuma. Alvarado would not have failed to punish them for this.
[742] There were from 300 to 400 dancers, nearly all chiefs, and an audience of
from 2000 to 3000, says Tapia; and from the wording of the accusation against
Alvarado it appears that all the chiefs were killed, and a number of the rest,
besides those slaughtered in the fort. Ramirez interprets the native painting to
signify 400, most likely of the nobles only, Id., 4, 37, 286; 400 killed, Cortés,
Residencia, i. 41; over 600 nobles slaughtered in one hour, Cano, in Oviedo, iii.
550; 600 to 1000 nobles and caciques, Gomara; over 1000 nobles, Ixtlilxochitl,
Relaciones, 412, and Brasseur de Bourbourg. ‘Fué tan grande el derramamiento
de sangre, que corrian arroyos della por el patio como agua cuando mucho
llueve.’ Sahagun, Hist. Conq. (ed. 1840), 100. He gives sickening details of
truncated bodies, of dismembered hands and feet, and of draggling entrails.
Father Duran goes to an extreme in his account, according to which Alvarado
prompted the deed, and Cortés executed it. From 8000 to 10,000 illustrious men
were summoned through Montezuma to assemble in the temple, in order to permit
Cortés to kill them and thus become master in the country. He places ten soldiers
at each gate, and sends in ten to commit the slaughter. Hist. Ind., MS. ii. 456-9.
Las Casas is not so absurd, this time at least, but close behind him in the
estimate, for he states that the slaughter was carried on in different parts of the
city at the same time, and in one place alone about 2000 young nobles fell.
Prescott misinterprets him. ‘Non procul à palatio aberant, duo circiter millia
juvenum nobilium.... Ad hos se contulit Hispanorum Capitaneus, & alios ad
reliquas urbis partes, in quibus hæ choreæ celebrabantur, misit, ... non cessabunt
celebrare & lamentari ... calamitatem,’ etc. Regio. Ind. Devastat., 32.
[743] Tapia, and others, in Ramirez, 38, 67, 131. Torquemada assumes that the
arms used by the assailants were those which had been collected for the outbreak
in the houses adjoining the temple, i. 490. As regards the motives for the
massacre, the Spanish authorities seek as a rule to justify them, while the native
accounts are equally inclined to ascribe them to greed or to wanton cruelty.
According to Sahagun the celebration was held at the instance of Alvarado, who
slaughtered the devotees without known cause. Hist. Conq., 27 (ed. 1840), 100.
Duran, who is as prejudiced as he is blundering, dates the massacre after the
return of Cortés from the coast. Alvarado persuades him to secure the submission
of the country by killing all the lords and chiefs, and they are accordingly allured to
their death. Hist. Ind., MS., ii. 456-7. Las Casas inclines to a similar motive; ‘quo
magis cresceret, & augeretur in his provinciis formido illorum crudelitatis.’ Regio.
Ind. Devastat., 30. Nearer the truth comes Ixtlilxochitl, who, while disposed to
credit his countrymen, dares not accuse the Spaniards, and so takes the prudent
middle course of casting the blame on the Tlascaltecs. Prompted by the hatred
bred of former wrongs inflicted by Mexicans, and by greed for spoils, they invent
charges of treason and speedy revolt. Alvarado, being also avaricious, is readily
induced to believe them, and considers it besides a good opportunity to obtain
control by dispatching the assembled chiefs, unarmed as they are. Hist. Chich.,
300; Relaciones, 389, 412. Ixtlilxochitl is not to blame for his assumption, since his
admired guide, the biographer of Cortés, does not attempt to defend Alvarado, but
merely mentions that he was influenced either by reports of a proposed uprising or
by avarice. Gomara, Hist. Mex., 151. The commentator Chimalpain says bluntly
that the latter motive ‘es mas de creer.’ Hist. Conq., i. 281; Benzoni, Mondo
Nuovo, 94; Pizarro y Orellana, Varones Ilvstres, 92. Vetancurt rather condemns
Alvarado for acting on insufficient evidence. Teatro Mex., pt. iii. 139-40. Cortés’
silence respecting the cause may be attributed to his usual prudence in
suppressing unpleasant facts. He states, however, that Montezuma supplicated
him not to be annoyed at what had happened, since he regretted it as much as the
Spaniards. This implies that the Indians were regarded as originators of the
trouble. The severity with which he treated the emperor on his return to Mexico,
notwithstanding the efforts made by him to save the Spaniards, indicates still more
strongly that Cortés was convinced of Mexican treachery. Cartas, 126 et seq. In
the letter of the army to the emperor the uprising is attributed to Narvaez’ plots.
Carta del Ejército, in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., i. 429. Herrera notices the native
versions, particularly that which accuses the Tlascaltecs of having trumped up
charges against the Mexicans, but he affirms, ‘la verdad fue, que pensaron matar
los Castellanos.’ He thereupon enumerates proofs of the plot. dec. ii. lib. x. cap.
viii. Torquemada, who is more fully acquainted with native accounts, condemns
them as unreliable, and states that Sahagun accepted them without investigation,
i. 489-91. The charge that Alvarado was influenced by avarice is promptly rejected
by Bernal Diaz. ‘No lo creo, ni nunca tal oí, ni es de creer que tal hiziesse.’ His
motive was to inspire terror and inflict such injury as to prevent the Indians from
attacking him. That they intended to attack, Bernal Diaz fully believes. Hist.
Verdad., 102. Solis is quite indignant at the supposition that avarice impelled the
Spaniards. Hist. Mex., ii. 117. According to Oviedo the intention of the natives was
to kill also Cortés on his return. He inserts without comment the version of Cano,
married to Montezuma’s daughter, that avarice was the motive, iii. 510, 550.
Acosta, who generally adheres to native versions, does not apparently find them
reliable in this case, since he merely says that a ‘chastisement’ was inflicted, but
that it was excessive. Hist. Ind., 522. This is also the opinion of Clavigero, who
believes that the Spaniards were deceived by Tlascaltec stories of a plot, and
wished to anticipate it, on the principle that ‘chi assalisce vince. Checchessia, la
sua condotta non può scusarsi d’imprudenza, e di crudeltà.’ Storia Mess., iii. 119.
This view has been widely adopted, even by the modern Mexican historian
Carbajal Espinosa, plagiarist though he be. Hist. Mex., ii. 339. His confrère
Bustamante, as editor of Sahagun, is inclined to magnify even the exaggerations
of the latter. Prescott wavers between Clavigero’s views and disbelief in Alvarado’s
apology. But in expressing his opinion he misconstrues Bernal Diaz and raises
some meaningless questions. Mex., ii. 284-6. There is no doubt that the Indians
were bent on mischief. A large faction had been hostile to the Spaniards ever
since their arrival, as intruders who menaced the existing politic, economic, and
religious order. This feeling had been steadily spreading under the threatening
attitude assumed by the unbidden guests in seizing the emperor, in extorting
tribute, and in assuming mastery. With the occupation of the temple by the
Christian emblems the climax was reached; and now the whole population
became possessed with a desire to avenge not only the outraged idols, but
themselves and their sovereign, and to uphold the tottering throne. The
observations of the Spaniards and the reports of their informers were correct in
pointing to an uprising, to take place during the gathering of pilgrims for the war-
god festival, when the reduced number of the Spanish garrison favored the
design. The confession of several natives, whether extorted by torture or not,
confirmed the charges and justified belief. Alvarado could not as a prudent
commander ignore them, and duty required him to use prompt measures for the
protection of his force, and of the interests of his king and the expedition. It might
be urged by those who seek to defend this kind of thing that seizure of the victims
for hostages would have been equally effective and more humane; but from the
precedence established by the general himself at Cholula the conduct of the rash
Alvarado is scarcely to be wondered at. Cortés’ object had been to strike terror as
the only effective lesson for a people who seemed to recognize no other sway,
and if this was regarded as necessary with the Cholultecs, Alvarado must have
held it to be doubly so now. His position was far more critical than that at the
former city, for his resources were smaller, the prospect of aid was hopeless, and
escape was cut off. He had to strike promptly and strike well. Here were the
leaders, and here the temple, wherein a punishment would apparently have
greater effect. It was natural to suppose that the installation of the war-god would
be attended by the leaders or representative men of the enemy; and to level the
blow at this class must be considered as less cruel at least than to strike the
multitude, as at Cholula. Perhaps the recognition of this was a reason for the
silence of Cortés. All this discussion, however, as to the minor motives prompting
a dastardly deed I do not regard as very relevant. I am very sure that the motives
of the Spaniards in this massacre were not plunder. They were playing for a higher
stake, for the whole country, and, in case they won, all in it would be theirs. The
present heavy blow was but one of the points in the game.
CHAPTER XXIII.
UPRISING OF THE AZTECS.
May-June, 1520.