Quipus, a masterful work by composer Juan Arroyo, was commissioned by the prestigious Tana Quartet and premiered in 2012 at the La Chaise-Dieu Festival, marking its entry into the contemporary music pantheon. The title, Quipus, refers to the « links » in the Quechua language, an undeciphered system used by pre-Columbian populations through a succession of knots along strings. Juan Arroyo, fascinated by this ancient form of communication, set out to transpose the physical principles of quipus into a contemporary musical language, delving into the intrigue and mystery of these artifacts. Each movement of this work explores the expressive capacities of different types of string vibration: transverse, longitudinal, torsion, and octave. The width and length of the strings become the axes around which the frequency space is organized, weaving a delicate and complex interaction between the movements. Arroyo thus succeeds in creating a sound universe that is both enigmatic and captivating, revealing unsuspected acoustic landscapes. The world premiere of Quipus took place on June 6, 2012, performed by the Tana Quartet, to whom this piece is dedicated. The concert at the La Chaise-Dieu Festival was a moment of pure magic, offering a unique sensory experience where the ancestral tradition of quipus dialogues with the modernity of musical vibrations.