Asiatic Musical Tradditions In The Philippines

Jonas Baes

A Southeast Asian Musical Tradition is practiced by those who resisted Spanishand

later AmericanColonial Rule, comprising roughly 10% of the Philippine population.
These musical traditions relate to the social, political and economic life of the people,
and are connected to their spiritual beliefs and their relationship to the natural
environment.

Generally, two types of Southeast Asian music could be found in the archipelago.
A northern tradition found in the Cordillera Mountains in northern Luzon and a
southern tradition found in the islands of Mindoro, Palawan, and in Mindanao and the
Sulu group of islands in the extreme south. Northern traditions relate to various music
cultures in continental Southeast Asia while southern traditions relate to the immediate
islands in insular Southeast Asia.

Some of the language groups in the north are the Kalinga, Bontok, Kankana-
ey, Ifugao, Isneg, Ibaloi, Ilonggot, Karao, Isneg and the Tingguian. In Mindanao in the
south, Islamic groups consist of the Maguindanao, Maranao, Yakan, Sangil, Tausug,
Sama, Badjao, and the Jama Mapun. Non-Moslem groups, sometimes referred to
collectively by outsiders as Lumads, consist of the Manobo, Bagobo, Subanun, Tiruray,
Tagabili, Mandaya, Mansaka, the Tboli and the Blaan. The Pala-wan,
Tagbanwa and Cuyunin are located in the island of Palawan, while various groups like
the Hanunoo-Mangyan, the Alangan and the Iraya are collectively called
the Mangyanand are located in the island of Mindoro, south of Luzon.

Gong types clearly distinguish between northern and southern traditions. Peoples
of the Cordillera highlands utilize graduated flat gongs (gangsa) that are played in
ensembles of six to eightor in other cases with other musical instruments like the
drum or a pair of iron barsutilizing a particular musical structure of interlocking
patterns. In the island of Mindanao, however, bossed gongs of various profiles are
played in ensembles, usually led by a row of gongs (kulintang) and supported or
accompanied by other gongs such as, among the Maguindanao, and the Maranao,
the agung, the gandingan and the babandil and a drum, the dabakan. Among
the Tiruray, the agung ensemble is made up of five individual gongs, each played by
one person. Among theBagobo, these gongs of the agung type called tagunggo are
suspended with ropes and played by two, three or more persons. Smaller suspended
gongs, on the other hand, are sometimes called kulintang. Bossed gongs are also found
in Palawan and in Mindoro.

The flat gong traditions in the north relate to similar traditions found among, for
instance, the Mnong Gar of North Vietnam while just the same, similar traditions of
bossed gong ensembles in Mindanao are found in the islands of Kalimantan, Sulawesi,
Sumatra, and elsewhere in the southern archipelago. In both the northern and southern
traditions, however, gongs are associated with important community celebrations such
as harvests and rituals.

Aside from gongs, other musical instruments in the north such as nose flutes,
bamboo buzzers, clappers, quill-shaped percussion tubes and brass jews harps relate
to continental Southeast Asia, while ring flutes log drums, xylophones, suspended
beams, two-stringed boat lutes and bamboo jews harps relate to insular Southeast
Asia.

Another feature that delineates between musical traditions is the rhythmic, speech-
like enunciation that characterizes the singing style of the north, as contrasted by a
more melismatic, long-phrased style in the south. Vocal genres in the north include
epics such as the ullalim among the Kalinga and other songs for various occasions and
celebrations as the ading and the oggayam. The alisiq is sung for curing the sick while
the ibillaments the death of a person. Leader-chorus singing among councils of elders
relates to the leadership structure of northern communities. The ayyeng among
the Bontok and the Liwliwa among the Kankana-ey exemplify leader-chorus type of
singing.

In the south, the use of a tense, high-pitched style with complex melismas
characterizes solo singing among the Moslem groups. This style is used in the singing
of epics such as the Radya Indara Patra and theDiwata Kasalipan among the
Maguindanao, the bayok a love song among the Maguindanao and the Maranao, and
the Tausug lugu, a solo song sung in Arabic, mostly by women, for important Islamic
ceremonies. A more relaxed style in the natural speaking range with less melisma is
used by non-Moslem groups. Among the Manobo, for instance, singing is accompanied
by a two-stringed boat lute and/or a bamboo polychordal zither.

Aside from the northern and southern linguistic groups, the Ayta is found in many
parts in the entire archipelago. Having been traditionally mobile, these groups of Filipino
appear to have syncretized their culture with proximal cultures. For instance, Ayta
groups in northern Luzon utilize a flat gong they refer to as gangha.

While the music of these peoples relate very much to their social and natural
environment, their continuous absorption into the mainstream Philippine culture seems
to pose a threat to their survival and the cultivation of their culture.