cuica (Mdz43r)

The elaborate nature of the scroll sets it apart from the regular speech scroll, perhaps a reflection of the appreciation for song. Furthermore, the first two symbols inside the segments (starting at the bottom) are reminiscent of symbols for writing or painting, as shown on folio 70 recto, where a "pintor" writes on a codex. See Mexicolore for this and another image (of a woman) writing/painting. The outside of the scroll of this glyph for cuica has small, white, curling shapes. Ideas about how to interpret these include feathers, a visual representation of sound, or a suggestions of the movement of dance. Scrolls associated with representations of sounds can also be found coming out of drums. See, for example, Valeria Ballomia, "Sound artefacts as containers. The materiality of rhythm in ancient Mesoamerica," Pallas: Revue d'Études Antiques 15 (2021), 121–145, especially section 4.

Other symbols inside the large scroll here may include shells, including the turbinate shell that appears so often splashing off from a stream of water. See the examples of the shells called cilin and cuechtli, below. Jeanette Peterson (The Paradise Garden Murals of Malinalco, 1993, 47) identifies a song scroll in the Malinalco murals, and in it she identifies the ilhuitl sign (which also stands for writing and the tonalamatl), the shell, and a flower. So, in content, it is very similar to this glyph.