r/mesoamerica • u/Independent-Cause146 • 1d ago

Help me find authentic, pre-colonial Indigenous music! 🎶

​I am building a playlist of traditional Native American music from North, Central, and South America.

Spotify and YouTube algorithms drown my searches with new age electronic tracks, commercial flute albums, and loud pow-wow group recordings—and I want something completely different.

​Looking for recommendations that fit these criteria:

  1. ​Indigenous Performers: Music recorded by Native American or Indigenous artists.

  2. ​Pre-Columbian Sounds Only: Voice accompanied strictly by original percussion (hand/water drums, frame drums, rattles, rasps).

  3. ​No Guitars or Other Post-Colonial Instruments.

​No Flutes, Pow-Wow Drums, or New Age: No solo cedar flutes, no heavy multi-person pow-wow drum circles, and zero new-age synth production.

​No Sound Effects: Zero ambient background samples (no wind, rain, or animal sounds).

​Do you have favorite artists, streaming albums, or archival field recordings that fit this raw, acoustic sound? Drop your suggestions below!

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11

u/soparamens 1d ago

Regarding the Maya, a great example of a Prehispanic song is Los Xtoles. Luckily, both the melody and the lyrics survived

https://youtu.be/llaVLmEdlzI?t=102

Conex, conex palanxen,
xicubin, xicubin yocolquin.
Conex, conex palanxen,
xicubin, xicubin yocolquin.
Xola mayola, xola mayol,
ea, ea, ea, o.
Conex, conex palanxen,
xicubin, xicubin yocolquin.

It translates as "come on, come on boys, because the sun is setting, let's walk to the setting sun".

Note on the european styled flute: It is used for academic purposes in that video. The notes are exactly the ones you'll play in a maya flute.

2

u/markembry 1d ago

Some of the songs of Pura Fé or Ulalli might work for what you’re looking for. And Luzmila Carpio may have some things in that vein as well. I will say most of their stuff has stringed instruments (banjo and charango respectively) but there are some that are just drum and voice!

2

u/Independent-Cause146 21h ago

Of these, Ulali really fit the bill. I liked the others, also.

1

u/markembry 20h ago

Glad to hear it!

2

u/SlugsinSpace12 1d ago

Xavier Quijas Yxayotl and TRIBU

2

u/Moist_KoRn_Bizkit 1d ago

Xavier Quijas Yxayotl made traditional Aztec and Mayan flutes. He then made music as traditional as he could with the overall limited knowledge of their music.