Where, when and who could've invented String Instruments in Precolumbian America?

Here's the title again, because it is my question: Where, when and who could've invented String Instruments in Precolumbian America?

IOTL, no one in precolumbian america invented stringed instruments. They had many other kinds, but because there was no Oud or Harp analogue, stringed instruments supposedly did not appear, soooooo....

Given a culture had enough precontact time and the proper circumstances, who could've invented some kind of stringed instrument in Precolumbian America?
 
Probably an Andean civilization, like the Incas. They did a lot of construction using principles of tension, so potentially it's only a matter of time before someone realizes a tense string (of llama gut? - not sure what the best local substances would be) makes a sound when plucked, and decides to apply that to an instrument.
 
Probably an Andean civilization, like the Incas. They did a lot of construction using principles of tension, so potentially it's only a matter of time before someone realizes a tense string (of llama gut? - not sure what the best local substances would be) makes a sound when plucked, and decides to apply that to an instrument.

Funny enough, I literally just learned about Inca tension mechanics a couple of days ago but did not make the connection.

At any rate, thank you! Although I'm not sure about the material, I can't really think of any stringed instruments that did not use metal strings. It's not like the inca didn't have good metal for it, and I doubt it would violate their aesthetic sensibilities to make strings after one eccentric smith decides to do it.

Then again I could be wrong about the guts.
 
Well, this is sort of outside the topic, but its possible that they were invented but just didn't catch on. I'm gonna work off a lot of assumptions here: The forms of music that a society produces have something to do with the available materials. The guitars (and banjos, etc) evolved out of gorde-based instruments. If Andean civilization relies on tubers as their staple crop (a notably difficult form of vegetation to convert into a musical instrument), stringed instruments probably won't appear organically. I think it also has something to do with the role music plays in the society. If i had to guess, the drum has retained importance in African culture because of its dual uses. Besides recreation and ceremonial use, they were (are?) used to communicate during war. Something so central to social cohesion and survival is not going to go lightly. I know basically zero about Andean music, but i'd venture that its ingrained in a similar way. Finally, take a look at a man named Ziryab. I'm not too educated on the subject, but I'm guess he is hugely responsible for the popularity of the stringed instruments in the western world. Having someone like that probably profoundly shifts a societies choice in music.



In all likelyness though, its probably just because they didn't have goats.
 
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jahenders

Banned
Literally anyone, though it would have to be a people with sustained 'staying power' to spread or remain in substantial use over a long period of time.

Early stringed instruments have been identified in archaeological digs of Ancient Mesopotamian sites, which include artifacts over three thousand years old and Indian instruments from at least 500 BC have been found. Some of these used catgut or other animal sinews for strings and a variety of structures/materials for bodies. So, even if they didn't use metal, most pre-Columbian civilizations could have made something from animal parts.

It's quite likely that stringed instruments were invented multiple times in multiple places in N/S America, but that they didn't really catch on in a civilization that survived intact.

Here's the title again, because it is my question: Where, when and who could've invented String Instruments in Precolumbian America?

IOTL, no one in precolumbian america invented stringed instruments. They had many other kinds, but because there was no Oud or Harp analogue, stringed instruments supposedly did not appear, soooooo....

Given a culture had enough precontact time and the proper circumstances, who could've invented some kind of stringed instrument in Precolumbian America?
 
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