Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-12-02
South and Central American Affairs
MUSIC OF MAR|MBA
IS GREATLY PRICED
Guatemala Now Sending This
Famous instrument to the
United States.

United States.
| Samuel c. Reat. United States consul
at Guatemala Cry. Guatemala. has sent
the Department of Commerce a COM
prehensive report on musical instru-
ments in that country, which may not
+ only be useful t. reporters. but which
contains much Of interest to the gen.
eral lover of music.
! The people of Guatemala are very
| fond of music. Their most popular
; programs are those in which ciassl-
! cal selections predominant. Band. Or
/ chestral and marimba music constitute
an indispensab BILE feature of all public
festivals and entertainments MI Reat 5
! report is in part as follows:
! Highly Priced Marimba Music.
! The most highly priced music III
Guatemala is that of the marimoa,
sweet-toned musical instrument said
I to have been invented by the Teco-
mate, a tribe of Indians of the state OF
/ Chiapas. Mexico. The original form OF
the INSTRUMENT. crude in structure, was
brought to Guatemala, where it has
been greatly improved. 1t resembles
the xylophone in structure and manner
! of pla lying. The keys. strips of wood
graduated in length to the musical
scale. arr, made of two kinds of wood
called hormigo, not unlike cedar ana
aguacate. The keys are held together
| by means of a cord drawn through
them There are forty-five tones and
thirty half tones. The bass tones are
given by the long, thick stats, the hrsh
tones by the short, thin Stats. The
keys are struck with two small fupper
hammers called baquetas.
The marimba is about eight feet
long and varies from one TO Two iee.
in width The sounding board beneath
the KEYS is constructed OF two KINDS
of wood. taxiscob and guachipilh' anu
the KEYS are made of mahogany. me
cost of a marimba is from 500 10 sl-o
gold.
Marimbas Shipped to United States.
The finest marimbas are manu1ac-
| tured in Quezaltenango. and the most
! skilled operators also come from ohae
7 city. which is the second city In size III
/ the republic Eight operators are re-
uuired to play marimba. and the ad-
dition of bass viol, a recent lnnoVa-
/ ton, gives strength and volume 10 the
/
! shipped to the United states and sew
| eral orders are now beng nlled ioi
American customers.
although last year the demand Tor
pianos was not large. all that were I'M
| ported came from the United states
Local importers state that the demand
! for these musical instruments is not
! very great in Guatemala, inasmuch as
! they are beyond the purchasing power
! of all except the rich. and as rule the
! local importers do not carry large
/ stocks Pianos of good make, no" ever
/ and preferably those specially buiit
| for tropical countries tthe climate OF
which is rather hard on ordinary pi-
anos), are in fair demand.
Change in Conditions During War.
Prior to the European war the great
ma jority of pianos sold in Guatemala
were brought from Germany. and the
German manufacturers dominated the
market in competition with pianos
! from the United States and the few
/ that were brought from other foreign
| countries In 1915 the total number of
pianos imported was twenty-five. and
l all came from the United States me
! dealers report that an instrument OF
I German make, known as the Bluthner
/ piano, the greatest seller IN the
/ Guat market. Not only was III
| cheaper and had "a better finish than its
! competitors from other countries. but
/ is was specially built for the tropics.
/ and maintained its tone longer than
! other Instruments. The cheaper Bluth-
! ner piano could be bought in Germany
! at $50 to 500 United States gold. and
was sold in Guatemala markets Tor
I s2oG other and better iastrun'c nts
were sold up to $500. The highest price
paid for a piano in Guatemala was
| 1000.
! pianos made in the United States
| have been brought in during the past
wear two and sold at 5000 to 5000
One firm alone reports the sale last
wear of ten pianos, valued in the aggre-
gate at $1,000
There is a close relation between the
coffee industry and the piano business
! Whenever there is a good year for col
| fee in Guatemala. there is better de-
mand for pianos. There are said to be
| a; least 1000 pianos in use in the re-
| public decided preference is shown
/ by GuatemalanS for pianos with black
! cases and finish, and for those equipped
! with music stands and candelabra at
/ tachIneft Recently an American COM
! pany built some pianos especially to
i meet this demand. and the dealers state
| that they had ready sale.
! Transportation Charges and Customs
| ut costs. on an average, $50 to bring
1 a medium sized piano from New York
! to Guatemala city. and of this amount
sl5 to so represents the transportation
! charge from Puerto Barrios to Guate-
| uala City The customs duty
( piano averages so or $50 United tates
/ gold IL is computed on the basis of
! weight, at the rate Of liz cents United
! States gold and iTi2 cents Guatenaian
| currency for each kilo c. pounds, or
! IS 10 per 100 pounds.
| The fact that selling terms by Ger
| man manufacturers and dealers were
! more favorable than those obtainable
I in the United States is another reason
/ given for the preference accorded to
/ pianos of German make by the local
| dealers The German manufacturers
| gave six months credit. The usual
| terms given by American dealers are
1 thirty days net, or = per cent discount
| for cash within ten days
/ ut is believed here that American
/ pianos can hold the market that IS
! now theirs only by catering to local
demand in the style and finish OF
pianos. and building instruments which
are adapted for a tropical country
Talking Machines and Player-Pianos
at is conservatively estimated that
! there arr. between 2 900 and $500 talk
ing machines OF every description now
in use in the republic of Guatemala'
The first machine was imported from
! the United States twelve years ago,
: and the business continued to expand
! until in 1915 one firm alone imported