Independent development in Latin America
Africans sold as slaves to Central and South America in the 16th and 17th centuries continued to make their native instruments there. The xylophones known as marimbas underwent further development on the American continent, especially in Mexico, Guatemala and Brazil. In these countries the calabashes were replaced by precisely tuned wood resonator chambers. Mirlitons were still fitted to the resonators which gave these Central American marimbas their distinctive character.
In Latin America the name “marimba” refers to every kind of large xylophone with calabashes as resonators of the type originally introduced from Africa.