1353 – Ibn Battuta visits the Mali Empire and writes an account of his journey that includes descriptions of the music he heard there, and of several instruments including the ngoni and balafon (a type of xylophone).[1]
^Lucy Durán and Aurelia W. Hartenberger, "Nkoni [ngoni]", Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments/Grove Music Online, edited by Deane L. Root, Oxford Music online (22 September 2015); K.A. Gourlay and Lucy Durán, "Balo [bala, balafou, balafon]", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers); Roderic C. Knight, "Kora", The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell (London: Macmillan Publishers)
^Kurt Markstrom, "Machaut and the Wild Beast", Acta Musicologica 61, No. 1 (January–April 1989): 12–39. Citation on 30.
