The musical life of the sixteenth century was influenced by a major technological shift. In this period of technological change, o ne can observe some interesting experiments with the materials on which music was notated. One particularly interesting group of objects are large stone tables with cauterized staves made in late sixteenth century upper Germany. They are most frequently seen as unusual byproducts of the regular musical life. This contribution investigates the concepts and ideas behind these objects focussing their materiality. It becomes clear that they are part of a larger discourse, asking for the origins and foundation of music itself.
