Friday, January 15, 2021

Filipino Traditional Musical Instruments



Musical Instrument - an object or device for producing musical sounds.

Hornbostel-Sachs instrument classification system was created by Erich Moritz von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs. Instruments are classified using 5 different categories depending on the manner in which the instrument creates the sound: Idiophones, Membranophones, Chordophones, Aerophones, & Electrophones.


Hornbostel-Sachs 5 Classification of Musical Instruments
  1. Aerophones
  2. Chordophones
  3. Membranophones
  4. Idiophones
  5. Electrophones


1.  Aerophones
- produce sound by vibrating a column of air. These are commonly known as wind instruments and there are four basic types.

Bulungudyong - vertical flute (Pinatubo Ayta)
Palendag - lip-valley flute (Kalinga)
Tongali - nose flute (Kalinga)
Tumpong - bamboo flute
Tulali - flute with 6 holes
Tumpong - bamboo flute
Bansik - bamboo flute with three holes of the Negrito people in Zambales.

Philippine bamboo aerophones include various types of flutes, pan-pipes, and reed pipes.

Lip notch flute- mouthpiece which is obliquely cut and curved at a slant to follow the contour of the player’s lips

- flutes which are mostly end-blown with the air stream directed into the open end of the tube.
- called the lip valley notch flute because of its mouthpiece which is obliquely cut and curved at a slant to follow the contour of the player’s lips. 

Paldong- called in the south
Palendag- called in the north

*Flutes are used as an instrument of leisure, used for serenading, courting, or merely to pass the time away.

Nose Fluteanother type of end-blown flute  

Tongali- nose flute of Kalinga
Kaleleng- nose flute of Bontok
Ungiung- nose flute of Ifugao
Lantuy- nose flute of Hanunuo
Lantoy- nose flute of Batak
Bulaktob - nose flute of Bukidnon
Cuyunin- nose flute of Palawan/gigantic nose flutes with tubes much larger in diameter than those found in Luzon

Suling- ring-type flutes used in the southern Philippines

Thumpong- whistle type flute of Subanun
Saunay- reed whistle type flute of Tausug

Stopped pipes 
- The bamboo pipe is closed on one end by a node with the open end held against the lower lip of the player as he blows directly across the top. 
- The pipe can be played individually by one person or in ensembles of three or more.

Saggeypo- stopped pipes of Kalinga
Sagay-op - stopped pipes of Bontok

Bamboo panpipes are rarely used. These consist of a number of bamboo pipes (5-8)strung together.
Diwas
Diwdiwas
Dew-dew

Transverse Flutes
- adaptations or imitation of European versions evident in the borrowed names such as flauta

Plawta- transverse flute of Manobo
Palawta- transverse flute of Hanunuo, Waray
Tipanu- transverse flute of Cuyunin, Batak of Palawan

**Other blown instruments are those made from shell or carabao horn and used for calling people or sending messages over wide distances.

Shell trumpets
budyong, lungga, taburi

Carabao horns
Tambuli- called by Tagalog
Kogao- called by Ifugao 



2. Chordophones
- produce sound by means of a stretched vibrating string. When a string vibrates, the resonator picks up that vibration and amplifies it giving it a more appealing sound. There are five basic types based on the strings' relationship with the resonator.

Bamboo violin - a three-stringed violin of the Aeta people.
Butting - a bow with a single hemp 5 string, plucked with a small stick.
Faglong - a two-stringed, lute-like instrument of the B'laan. Made in 1997
Budlong - bamboo zither
Kolitong - a bamboo zither
Pas-ing - a two-stringed bamboo with a hole in the middle from Apayao people.
Lutes
Bandurria - part of rondalya ensemble, it has a shorter neck and 14-strings compared to its Spanish ancestor.
Kudyapi - a two-stringed boat lute from Mindanao.
LaΓΊd - similar to the bandurria, it is ultimately of Spanish origin. Also part of a rondalya ensemble.
Octavina - part of a rondalya ensemble, it is of ultimately Spanish origin.


- These are bamboo or wood-stringed instruments that may be struck, plucked, or bowed. 
- They included zithers, lutes, and bowed strings.

Philippine zithers have resonating bodies that are made from bamboo tubes or half tubes with strings that run parallel to the length of the tube. 

Tube zithers are found in northern Luzon, Mindanao, and Palawan.

Two Types of Zithers
1. Polychordal zither
2. Parallel stringed zithers 

1. Polychordal zithers
-several strings that run around the tube
-have strings that are etched out of the bamboo body, remaining attached at both ends
-Small wooden frets are inserted beneath the string near the ends
The number of strings varies from 5 to 8 or 9 and occasionally even 11
-found in Cordilleras, Mindanao, and Palawan
-known in the following names- kolitong, kollessing, kulibet, saluray, sigitan, takul, tangke, togo, and pagang.

2. Parallel stringed zithers 
-have two strings on one side of the tube.
-two bamboo strands, about 5 cm. apart, are etched out to the tube to serve as strings.
-at the mid-point of the tube, below the strings, a small sound hole is bored and covered by a small bamboo plate clipped to the strings
-when played, the strings are struck by a bamboo stick or plucked
-found in northern Luzon, Mindoro, Mindanao, and Palawan
-known in the following names- tambi, bamban,tabengbeng, kudling, tabobo, thambabok, takumbo, and patigunggung

Lutes
-are of the long neck variety, with two strings that run from the neck to the base of the resonating chamber.
-One sting plays a drone, the other a melody
-Though all the lutes are fretted, the location and number of frets vary between groups
-found only in the south, in Mindanao and Palawan

Sample Lutes
Kudyapi
-are glued to the body of the resonating chamber
-frets of the Maranao and Maguindanao

-Frets are located on the neck of the instrument for the following;
Fuglung - Bilaan
Kudlong - Mandaya
Kusyapi - Palawan

Fiddles
- One stringed bowed lutes of the long neck variety
- found in Mindanao
- They have a sounding box made from a coconut half-shell covered with a leaf or a piece of bark or animal skin.
- The string is made of abaca fibers, horsehair, and more recently, wire.
- Duwagey by the Manobo and Bilaan

Cumparsa
-string ensemble emerged in the later period of the Spanish regime
-adaptation of similar instrumental groups in Mexico (murza or murga) and Spain (estudiantina)

Rondalla Ensemble
-consists of plucked string instruments
-the bandurria, the laud, the octavina, the six-stringed gitara, and the bajo de unas or bass guitar.

Bandurria
- pear-shaped, with a rounded back, a round soundhole, and a fretted neck. - serves as the melody instrument of the ensemble
- tuned an octave below the laud

Octavina
- tuned an octave below the laud
- together with Bandurria furnish the inner harmonies and contrapuntal elaboration to the melody.

Gitara
- main function is to supply the arpeggiated or chordal underpinnings of the ensemble

Bajo de unas
is tuned like the contra-bass



3. Membranophones
- are musical instruments that use vibrating stretched membranes or skin to produce sound. Membranophones are classified according to the shape of the instrument.

Agung a tamlang - bamboo (slit drum)
Dabakan - goblet drum (Maranao)
Gandang - double-headed barrel drum (Maranao)
Kagul - scraper
Libbit - conical drum (Ifugao)
Sulibao - conical drum (Ibaloy)
Gambal - drums
Tambul - drum

-single and double headed drums are found throughout the Philippines
-they are variously shaped–conical, cylindrical, goblet shaped, barrel shaped
-animal skins (snake, deer, or goat) is used as head/heads of the drum
-may be beaten with sticks or by the palm portion of bare hands
-seldom used alone except to announce tidings over long distances
-they are played with other instruments, particularly gongs, to form different kinds of ensembles

Sulibao and Kimbal of the Bontok and Ibaloi
-longitudinal slightly barrel shaped hollowed out logs with deer skin heads on one end
-they are played with palms of two hands
-they are combined with gongs and other instruments to form different types of ensembles.

Kimbal
-taller drum (ca. 80 cm)

Sulibao/Sulibaw
-shorter drum (ca. 75 cm)
-drum dead is small measuring about 6 cm. in diameter

Ifugao libbit
-Ludag is a conical drum with a deer or goat skin head
-it is played with a gong during harvest time under the rice granary.

Dabakan
-is a large goblet shaped drum 
-used by the Maranao and Maguindanao in their kulintang ensembles



4. Idiophones
- are musical instruments in which a vibrating solid material is used to produce sound. Examples of solid materials used in such instruments are stone, wood, and metal. Idiophones are differentiated according to the method used to make them vibrate.

- Instruments that produce sound from the substance of the instrument itself (wood or metal) are classified as idiophones. They are further subdivided into those that are struck, scraped, plucked, shaken, or rubbed. In the Philippines, there are metal and wooden (principally bamboo) idiophones.

Kubing - jaw's harp (Maranao)

Gangsa - flat gongs made of bronze, brass, or iron used by Isneg, Tingguian, Kalinga, Bontok, Ibaloi, Kankanai, Gaddang, Ifugao, and Ilonggot.

Gongs - varies in size, the average is struck with wooden sticks, padded wooden sticks, or slapped with the palm of the hand. Used by Cordillera highlanders is an integral part of peace pact gatherings, marriages, prestige ceremonies, feasts, or rituals.

Tuned gongs
Agung - large gong suspended from an ornate frame
Gandingan - set of four large hanging knobbed gongs
Kulintang - set of eight tuned gongs placed horizontally in an ornate frame, tuned pentatonic scale|pentatonically.
Xylophones
Gambang/Gabbang - bamboo blades on a frame (Yakan, Batak, B'laan, Badjao, Taus)
Luntang - wooden beams hanging from a frame (Maguindanaon)
Metallophones
Kulintang a tiniok - set of eight, tuned knobbed metal plates strung on a wooden frame (Maguindanaon)
Babandil - small gong
Saronay - eight tuned knobbed metal plates strung over a wooden frame (Maranao)

Metal idiophones are of two categories:
  • flat gongs
  • bossed gongs
Flat gongs called Gangsa
- made of bronze, brass, or iron
- used by people in the north among the Isneg, Tingguian, Kalinga, Bontok, Ibaloi, Kankanai, Gaddang, Ifugao, and Ilonggot

Gongs
- vary in sized
- the average is struck with wooden sticks, padded wooden sticks, or slapped with the palm of the hand

Gong playing among the Cordillera highlanders is an integral part of peace pact gatherings, marriages, prestige ceremonies, feasts, or rituals.

3 Types of Gongs

Kulintang
-sets of graduated gongs laid in a row

Agung
-larger, deep-rimmed gongs with sides that are turned

Gandingan
- gongs with narrower rims and less prominent bosses

Bamboo idiophones abound in the Philippines-xylophones, drums, quill-shaped tubes, stamping tubes, scrapers, buzzers, and clappers

Gabbang
-bamboo xylophone, consists of bamboo keys of graduated lengths mounted on a trapezoidal box. The number of keys varies among the different ethnic groups, ranging from 3 to 22.
-uses by Yakan, Sama, Tausug, and Palawan

Patatag
- individual bamboo xylophone, like blades and are struck with bamboo sticks.
- uses by Kalinga

Bantula
- bamboo slit drum, fashioned out of a bamboo tube closed at both ends with anode with a slit cut out of the tube.
- its main use is to announce important events.
- uses by Bukidnon 

Tagutok -called by Marano / Kagul - Maguindanao
- struck quill-shaped bamboo tubes with notches etched on the tube
The player scrapes the notches with a bamboo stick.

Balingbing, Pew-pew, Pakkung, Bilbil, Bungkaka
- bamboo buzzers
- made from a length of bamboo closed with a node at the bottom, with its top half shaped so that two tongues face each other
- The top half is struck against the palm of the hand
- uses by Cordillera Highlanders

Hanger
- bamboo clapper
- fashioned from a tubular section of bamboo, split from one end to approximately half of the tube. 
- Each half of the split portion is shaped to make it narrower in the middle, thus making it more flexible when the halves are made to flap against each other.
- Uses by Ifugao

Wooden idiophones include sticks, suspended logs, and log drums.

Kalutang
- consists of pair of sticks cut from forest trees. 
- These are struck against each other and played while hiking through forest and mountain trails.
- uses by Hanunuo

Pattunga
- percussion yoke bar made from a tapered piece of wood and struck with a stick. 
- It is used in ceremonies for the sick, at rites that entail the offering of sacrificial pigs, or at death rituals.
- uses by Ifugao

Suspended logs are widespread in the southern Philippines where they are known by different ethnic names.

Luntang
- consists of several logs of varying lengths hung in order from longest to shortest. 
- The pointed playing ends of each log are struck by one performer creating a melody against which another performer beats drone rhythm on one of the logs.
- Uses by Maguindanao

Edel
- is a sounding board with a resonator played during wedding celebrations together with a drum or gong to accompany dancers.
- uses by Tagakaolo while the Bagobo and Bilaan have similar drums.

Jews harps are bound all over the Philippines.

Kubing
- called by people from the south

Ulibaw
- called by people from the north
- made from bamboo although in the Philippines some are made of metal.
- It is a type of mouth resonated instrument consisting of a flexible tongue fixed at one end to a surrounding frame. 
- The player places the free end of the instrument with the hand, or in some other types by pulling a string attached to the blade.



5. Electrophones 
- are musical instruments that produce sound electronically or produce its initial sound traditionally and then are electronically amplified. Some examples of instruments that produce sound electronically are electronic organs, theremins, and synthesizers. Traditional instruments which are electronically amplified include electric guitars and electric pianos.







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