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Gambus

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Lute is a stringed musical instrument like a mandolin from the Middle East. At least 3-stringed lute attached to at most 12 strings. Lute played with a drum accompaniment. An orchestra using the main instrument of the orchestra called lute lute or lute called it. In TVRI and RRI, the orchestra has hosted lute desert rhythms.

Lute to accompany dance orchestra entirely Zapin brought him to dance socially. Rhythmic songs that brought the Middle East. While the lyrics are religious themes. Instrument consists of violin, drums, tabla and flute. Today, the orchestra lute belongs Betawi people and many in the party invited circumcision and marriage. Arabic lyrics, it could be prayer or peace. Pilot orchestra is Syech Albar lute, his father Ahmad Albar, and the famous orchestra El-Surayya lute from Medan leader Ahmad Baqi.

Nafiri

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The trumpet is a traditional musical instrument from Riau province on Sumatra island that looks like a trumpet. Communities in Riau alone wilt not only to develop instruments like the trumpet, but also musical instruments such as: cymbal, tetawak, improbable, kompang, lute, marwas, drum, tambourine, flute, fiddle, drum, gong, flute, harp, violin and accordion. Musical instruments in the rhythm and melody to produce a different individual with other musical instruments. We can see the game this instrument along with performances makyong which is a traditional art form that is still played and passed in Riau province. Besides being a musical instrument, the trumpet is also used as a means of public communication wither. Primarily to inform about the disaster, and news of the death.

History

The origins of the instrument is not so clear. If you look at the history of travel of Riau province, have long been occupied by the Malays during the Srivijaya kingdom. Malays are occupying various places in the Malacca Strait. Intermingling between the races wither to Padang, Javanese, Minangkabau, Bugis, Banjar and Batak cause a variety of cultures including musical instruments. However, there is an opinion that this instrument originated from India because of similar instruments to play the snake. There was also the opinion that this tool comes from the Middle East region because of the similarity of the name naifr.

By the time of empires, the trumpet is one important tool for use in the coronation of king but as a musical instrument in the palace. At first the Kingdom of Malaya Nobat legacy equipment such as trumpet, drums, betel Esar, and the emblem is a symbol of the country or so-called royal regelia serve as spiritual strength and honor of the kingdom along with customs. Without these tools the coronation of a king can not be validated. There is a belief in ancient times when the spiritual power is corrupt it will be destroyed and broken down the worth and dignity of the nation. For the Kingdom of the Overseas Malays Kingdom, an empire may be conquered, captured, and controlled by other parties. King or Emperor could have been displaced and fled to another country or region, seeking refuge. However, if the kingdom could not be reached Regelia and not captured, while the magic and sacred Regelia was still held by the king, the country's sovereignty is still erect. Emperor still has sovereignty, and he can establish the kingdom everywhere, and made the king everywhere. Because the tools were considered to have supernatural power, not yet conquered. Therefore, anyone who holds, and given the task of keeping it Regelia, is a strong and powerful. A person who has powers far above the other powers, including the Emperor himself. Usually the person is an advisor to the king. In Kedah trumpet along with musical instruments other nobat stored in a place called Hall Nobat. Nobat Hall itself is a typical building with Islamic architecture. This can be seen with the dome above. This building has often been renovated, especially in the era of Sultan kedah of the 25th of Sultan Ahmad Tajuddin Mukarram Shah that has occupied the throne, beginning in 1854 until 1879. Nobat derived from Persian word 'Naubat "which means nine instruments. Nobat a royal orchestra music that is used primarily for the coronation of kings, noblemen and welcome a special guest. The players called the People Nobat. Nobat also played together with holy festivals such as death. There is a belief that originated nobat Indian tradition transmitted by the merchants who was stopped in the straits of Malacca.

In the days of old kingdom, the trumpet is used as a tool to declare war against another kingdom. Also, the trumpet is used to preach about the death of the king, he lifted the king. This tool is also used to gather the people, so they soon came to the palace square to listen to news or announcements of their people. Therefore, the tool is used as a royal heritage items.

In Malaysia, we also find an instrument called a trumpet, although with a slightly different form. In the country this instrument we can find to accompany folk songs and traditional ceremonies. We can see this tool in the orchestra nobat in Malaysia. This instrument is also used for the coronation knighted. One person who never received an honorary degree at Adat Riau is Sultan Hamengkubuwono X. When his coronation took place votes Nafiri with other traditional musical instruments to accompany the show in front of Assembly Perapatan Adat Melayu. The tools are used as markers diangaktanya someone as noble. Currently trumpet function becomes more reduced because only used on royal occasions or celebrations conducted by the wilt.

According to the beliefs of Riau Malays, when playing this instrument players possessed by the gods, haunter, and fairies. So as if they convey a message of impending danger or other important events. Therefore, before blowing this instrument needs to be smoked over dipusung the censer. The trumpet is blown with air flow is not interrupted for two or three hours. Nafiri players who should have a long breath, healthy body, and has a special technique that does not break tiupannya. The trumpet is blown only with his right hand while his left hand holding the bottom.
[edit] The function and usefulness

1. Traditional dance, henna dance, dance dance Jinugroho and Olang.
2. As the main instrument in the music that is robat music played in society.
3. As a melody that is used to determine the silat movements.
4. For the coronation of kings when Riau still shaped kingdoms and nobles.
5. Signs of the war, disasters, and death.
6. The instrument used as a spiritual marker to call god, spirit, or spirits of ancestors.

[edit] How to make Nafiri

Made of wood measuring 25 to 45 centimeters. Between the rod and place given the limits tiupnya made from coconut shell. Trumpet used a tongue split in half is made of young coconut leaves or bamboo that is dry. Tersebutlah tongue called a vibrator that will make a sound or sounds. There are three finger holes, the amount of fruit about the size of kernels of corn to set high and low tones. At the base provided with links shaped like a truncated ovoid, and hollow to create a volume larger issued. Music issued sounded like thrashing than a clear melody to be heard.

A piece of wood that has been dikerat according to the desired size of dipangkalnya so ditoreh shaped like an egg which has cut the edges. Then given bebatang, the process is called immunity or would trumpet. Then the patches are refined by using a knife and swiped to look smoothed with traps leaves or petals of a flower found only Sukon sumatera area. Then drilled using a small drill and a chisel, it will make the trumpet is hollow with a thick skin about half a centimeter. On trumpet trunk holes finger using a heated iron. How to play and make Nafiri derived continuously from generation to generation by the Melayu Riau.



Harp

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Harp
Harp.png
A medieval harp (left) and modern pedal harp
String instrument
Hornbostel-Sachs classification 322-5
(Composite chordophone sounded by the bare fingers)
Developed Antiquity
Playing range
Range of harp.JPG
(modern pedal harp)[1]
Related instruments

A harp is a stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. It is classified as a chordophone by the Harvard Dictionary of Music and only types of harps are in that class of instruments with plucked strings. All harps have a neck, resonator, and strings. Some, known as frame harps, also have a forepillar; those lacking the forepillar are referred to as open harps. Depending on its size (which varies considerably), a harp may be played while held in the lap or while it stands on the floor. Harp strings are made of nylon, gut, wire, or silk on certain instruments. A person who plays the harp is called a harpist or harper. Folk musicians often use the term "harper", whereas classical musicians use "harpist".

Various types of harps are found in Africa, Europe, North, and South America, and in Asia. In antiquity, harps and the closely related lyres were very prominent in nearly all cultures. The oldest harps found thus far have been uncovered in ruins from ancient Sumer. The harp also predominant in the hands of medieval bards, troubadors and minnesingers, as well as throughout the Spanish Empire. Harps continued to grow in popularity through improvements in their design and construction through the beginning of the twentieth century.

The aeolian harp (wind harp), the autoharp, and all forms of the lyre and Kithara are not harps because their strings are not perpendicular to the soundboard; they are part of the zither family of instruments along with the piano and harpsichord. In blues music, the harmonica is called a "Blues harp" or "harp", but it is a free reed wind instrument, not a stringed instrument, and is therefore not an actual harp.

Origins

An ancient Egyptian harp on display in the British Museum.

Harps were most likely independently invented in many parts of the world in remote prehistory.[clarification needed] It is self-evident that the harp's origins may lie in the sound of a plucked hunter's bow string or the strings of a loom.

A type of harp called a 'bow harp' is nothing more than a bow like a hunter's, with a resonating vessel such as a gourd fixed somewhere along its length. To allow a greater number of strings, harps were later made from two pieces of wood attached at the ends: this type is known as the 'angle harp'.

The oldest depictions of harps without a forepillar are from 4000 BC in Egypt[citation needed](see Music of Egypt) and 3000 BCE in Persia (see Music of Iran).[citation needed] While most English translations of the Bible feature the word 'harp', especially in connection with King David, the Hebrew word is nevel, a type of lyre with 10 strings and not a harp at all. The Hebrew word for one kind of harp is kinnor. Other ancient names for harps include magadis and sambuka. The kanun is a descendant of the ancient Egyptian harp and was introduced to Europe by the Moors during the Middle Ages.

Structure and mechanism

Harps are roughly triangular and are usually made primarily of wood. The lower ends of the strings are fastened to the inside of the sounding-board, which is the outer surface of the resonating cavity. The body is hollow and resonates, projecting sound both toward the player through openings, and outward through the highly flexible sounding board. The crossbar, or neck, contains the mechanism or levers which determine the pitch alteration (sharps and flats) for each string. The upper ends of the strings are attached to pins in holes drilled through the neck. The longest side, the column, encloses the rods controlling the mechanism of a pedal harp. At the base are seven pedals, which activate the rods when they are downwardly pressed. The modern sophisticated instrument spanning 6½ octaves in virtually all keys was perfected by the 19th-century French maker Sébastien Érard.

Lever harps do not have pedals or rods. Instead they use a shortening lever on the neck for each individual string which must be activated manually in order to shorten the string and raise the tone a half step. Thus, a string tuned to natural may be played in sharp, but not flat. A string tuned to flat may be played in natural, but not sharp. Lever harps are considerably lighter in weight than pedal harps and are smaller in size and number of strings. Lever harps are popular for playing folk music and are most commonly called folk harps.

The harp lute or dital harp adapts the lever tuning system to a fretted instrument in the lute or guitar family.



Bedug

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Drum is a percussion instrument like a drum. Drum is a traditional musical instrument that has been used since thousands of years ago, which has a function as a traditional means of communication, both in the activities of religious and political rituals. In Indonesia, a regular drum was sounded for the notification of the times of prayer or worship. Drum made from a large piece of wood or palm trees along approximately one meter or more. The center of the rod-shaped hole so the big tube. End of the rod is larger covered with animal skins that functions as a membrane or coating drum. When struck, drum heavy noise, pitched a typical, low, but can be heard up to a considerable distance.


History

Drum actually originated from India and China. Based on the legend of Cheng Ho from China, as when Admiral Cheng Hoo come to Semarang, they were welcomed by the king of Java at that time. Then, when Cheng Ho was about to leave, and to give a gift, the king of Semarang said that he only wanted to listen to the voice of the mosque drum. Since then, the drum and then became part of the mosque, as in China, Korea and Japan, which positions the drum in the temples as a religious ritual communication tool. In Indonesia, a regular drum is sounded for prayer time notification mengani or prayers. As powerful drum Orba been removed from surau and mosques because they contain elements of non-Muslims. Drum was replaced by a loudspeaker. This was done by the Islamic modernists, but NU resistance so far can be seen there are many who defend the mosque drum.

Function drum

* Social Functions: drum serves as a communication tool, or sign community activities, ranging from worship, an indication of danger, until the landmark gathering of a komuntas.
* The function of aesthetics: drum work in the creative world development, concepts, and culture of musical material.

How to creating a simple drum

At first, skinned goat or cow. Animal skins used to make a drum of raw materials such as goat skin, cow, buffalo, and buffalo. White cowhide has a better quality compared with brown cowhide. Because white cow skin is thicker than the brown cowhide, so that the resulting sound will be different as well, lower durability. Then, the skin is soaked in water detergent approximately 5-10 minutes. Do not be too long to not be damaged. Then, the skin is dried in a way dipanteng (held) in order not to shrink. When dry, measure the diameter of wood that have been painted and will be made drum. Seteleh finished measured, the skin is attached to a wooden stump of wood that had been prepared. The process of unification with the animal skin made of wood with nails and some ropes.

Games Bedug (Art Ngadulag)

Ngadulag art comes from the West Java area. Basically, the drum has the same function as described previously. However, the drum beats in each region has differences with other regions, making it unique. Thus was born the term "Ngadulag" which refers to a drum beating skills. Now the drum beat of skills has become an independent art form of art Ngadulag (drum playing). In the area Bojonglopang, Sukabumi, ngadulag art has become a competition to get the best drum drummers. The competition is divided into 2 categories, namely the beauty and durability. The beauty of rhythm and rhythm priority drum beats, while resistance plays priority durability or how long the power beating the drum. The competition was participated by men and women. From this game the art of beating the drum through the development. In the past, the art equipment drum beat of the drum consisted simply, kohkol, and trumpets. But now even developed its equipment. Besides those mentioned above, the drum beat is now also equipped with musical instruments like guitars, keyboards, and cymbal.

The world's largest Bedug

The world's largest drum in the Masjid Darul Muttaqien, Purworejo. This drum is a great work of Muslims, whose creation was ordered by the Duke Tjokronagoro I, Regent's first Purworejo. made in 1762 or 1834 AD Java And named Kyai Begelan. Size or specifications of this drum were: length 292 cm, circumference 601 cm in front of, around the rear of 564 cm, diameter of the front of 194 cm, diameter of the rear of 180 cm. Part of this beating of the drum is made from buffalo skin. Giant drum is designed as a "means of communication" to invite the congregation to hear as far as possible through drum beats as a sign of time praying before adzan voiced

Gendrum

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Gendrum is a hybrid instrument between the drum and the drum designed by Siswo Harsono in 1992. Musical instruments are usually applied in the arts Gambang Semarang and can also be applied in other arts such as Jaipongan, campursari, or dangdut. Gendrum consists of a jaipong drums, a drum stick, two ketipung (panepak), two ketibung (ketipung large), a pair of bongo, cowbells, bass drum, cymbals and a set consisting of a ride, crash, splash, and china.

Gendrum a set of percussion played by a player gendrum (gendrumer), and not by a group of percussion players. Percussion combination contained in the device as a united gendrum already tuned harmony as necessary. Techniques applied by the game Harsono Siswo called "slap campursari". Campursari slap-style game Siswo Harsono diverse game that combines slap jaipong drums, bongo, drums, and cymbals. Campursari Masjid was applied by Siswo Harsono in the development of Gambang Semarang art done by the Faculty of Letters, Diponegoro University, Semarang.

Rebab

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Rebabs
Mevlâna mausoleum, Konya, Turkey

The rebab (Arabic الرباب or رباب - "a bowed (instrument)") , also rebap, rabab, rebeb, rababah, or al-rababa) is a type of string instrument so named no later than the 8th century and spread via Islamic trading routes over much of North Africa, the Middle East, parts of Europe, and the Far East. The bowed variety often has a spike at the bottom to rest on the ground, and is thus called a spike fiddle in certain areas, but there exist plucked versions like the kabuli rebab (sometimes referred to as the robab or rubab)

The rebab usually consists of a small, usually rounded body, the front of which is covered in a membrane such as parchment or sheepskin and has a long neck attached. There is a long thin neck with a pegbox at the end and there are one, two or three strings. There is no fingerboard. The instrument is held upright, either resting on the lap or on the floor. The bow is usually more curved than that of the violin.

The rebab, though valued for its voice-like tone, has a very limited range (little over an octave), and was gradually replaced throughout much of the Arab world by the violin and kemenche. It is related to the Iraqi instrument the Joza, which has four strings.

The introduction of the rebab into Western Europe has possibly coincided with the conquest of Spain by the Moors, in the Iberian Peninsula. There is however evidence of the existence of bowed instruments in the 9th century also in Eastern Europe: the Persian geographer of the 9th century Ibn Khurradadhbih cited the bowed Byzantine lira (or lūrā) as typical bowed instrument of the Byzantines and equivalent to the Arab rabāb .

Construction

The rebab is used in a wide variety of musical ensembles and genres, corresponding with its wide distribution, and is built and played somewhat differently in different areas. In Southeast Asia, the rebab is a large instrument with a range similar to the viola da gamba, whereas versions of the instrument further west tend to be smaller and higher-pitched. The body varies from being ornately carved, as in Java, to simpler models such as the 2-string Egyptian "fiddle of the Nile" may have a body made of half a coconut shell. The more sophisticated versions have a wooden soundbox and the front may be half-covered with beaten copper, and half with goatskin.

Arabia, Persia and the Ottomans

The rebab was heavily used, and continues to be used, in Persian music. It is also played in other countries such as India, most likely tracing its origin to Greater Iran because of its use in the Sassanid court. It was adopted as a key instrument in Arab classical music and in Morocco a tradition of Arabo-Andalusian music has been kept alive by descendants of Muslims who left Spain as refugees following the Reconquista. The rebab became a favourite instrument in the tea houses of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire.

Indonesia and Malaysia

Indonesian rebab player

In the Indonesian gamelan the rebab is an essential elaborating instrument, ornamenting the basic melody. It does not have to conform exactly to the scale of the other gamelan instruments and can be played in relatively free time, finishing its phrases after the beat of the gong ageng (the big gong that "rules" the ensemble). The rebab also frequently plays the buka when it is part of the ensemble.

In the eastern Malaysian states of Kelantan and Terengganu, the Rebab is used in a healing ritual called "Main Peteri". The musician healer is sometimes taken to hospitals in cases where doctors are unable to heal ailing patients.

Slenthem

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The slenthem (also slentem or gender panembung) is a Javanese metallophone which makes up part of a gamelan orchestra.

The slenthem is part of the gendér family. It consists of a set of bronze keys comprising a single octave: there are six keys when playing the slendro scale and seven when playing the pelog. These keys are suspended by leather cords over individual bamboo tube resonators in a wooden frame, which are cut so that the placement of the bamboo's node causes the functional length of the resonator to be shorter for higher notes. The instrument is played by striking the keys with a mallet, called a tabuh, which has a short handle and a thin wooden disk edged in cloth or rubber. One hand is left free to dampen notes. It is a low-pitched instrument with a softer sound than the saron demung.

Like the saron barung and demung, it generally plays the most basic form of the melody (balungan) in a composition. However it also sometimes uses techniques similar to the saron to elaborate. It is especially favored in quieter gamelan ensembles (such as Gamelan Gadhon); but it is a part of standard Gamelan Gedhé as the only soft-style instrument also played in loud-style pieces.

It is typically placed among the instruments at the front of the performing area.

Tambo

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To tambo in Minangkabau culture, see Tambo (Minangkabau).

Tambo is a traditional musical instrument of Aceh. Tambo made of sticks iboh, cow leather, and rattan as a means of stretching the skin. Similar shape and played drums beaten way. In the old days, legend serves as a communication tool to indicate the time or sembayang prayer and to gather people to Meunasah to discuss ward issues. Today, the legend is rarely used because of modern technology in the form of a microphone.

Triton

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Triton is a traditional musical instrument of Papua. Triton played by blowing. This instrument is the entire coast, especially in the areas Biak, Yapen, Waropen, Nabire, Wondama, and the islands King Amat. Initially, this tool is only used for the means of communication or as a means of call / signaling. Furthermore, this tool is also used as a means of entertainment and traditional musical instruments.

Gendang Karo

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Drum or drum karo dalinen five of the device consists of five percussion instruments (percussion) played by five musicians. The fifth device is a penaruné, two penggual, and two shy of the gong. Five sedalanen drum ensemble music called because it consists of five instruments, namely sarune (aerofon), drum ovary (membranophone), drum children (mebranofon, gung, and penganak. But is often called the drum five sedalanen, ranggutna sepulu two, namely the number twelve for the counting devices used in whole, including sticks or instruments musical instrument is struck.

If classified according to the music ensemble, drum Karo actually consists of five drum and drum sedalanen telu sedalanen. Sedalanen telu drum is composed of three musical instruments played together, which consists of kulcapi (long neck lute) as the bearer of melody, keteng-keteng (idiokordofon, tube-zhyter) as a rhythmic anchor, and a bowl mbentar (idiofon) as a carrier due .

Sasando

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Sasando on paper money USD. 5000, - emissions in 1992.

Sasando is a stringed musical instrument. Instumen music comes from the island of Rote, East Nusa Tenggara.

Sasando form is similar to other stringed instruments such as guitar, violin and harp.

The main part of the long tubular Sasando commonly made from bamboo. Then in the middle, a circle from top to bottom given lump-lump in which the strings (the strings) that stretched across the tube, from top to bottom resting. Wedge-wedge gives tone different to each passage of the string. Then this Sasando tube placed in a container made from a kind of woven palm leaves like a fan made. This container is the place Sasando resonance.

Kulintang

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Kulintang
Kulintang 08.jpg
Other names Kolintang, Kulintangan, Totobuang
Classification
Playing range
Pelog and Slendro scales
Related instruments
bonang,[1] kenong, canang, keromong,[2] kromong, kethuk,[3] trompong/terompong, rejong, talempong,[4] chalempung, caklempong/caklempung,[2] khong wong yai/khong wong lek, khong toch/ khong thom, khong vong, krewaing/krewong[5]
More articles
gamelan and piphat
Kulintang ensemble
Stylistic origins Music of Southeast Asia
Typical instruments KulintangAgungGandinganBabendilDabakan
Mainstream popularity Mainstream in parts of Southeast Asia, limited success elsewhere.

Kulintang is a modern term for an ancient instrumental form of music composed on a row of small, horizontally-laid gongs that function melodically, accompanied by larger, suspended gongs and drums. As part of the larger gong-chime culture of Southeast Asia, kulintang music ensembles have been playing for many centuries in regions of the Eastern Malay Archipelago — the Southern Philippines, Eastern Indonesia, Eastern Malaysia, Brunei and Timor, although this article has a focus on the Philippine Kulintang traditions of the Maranao and Maguindanao peoples in particular. Kulintang evolved from a simple native signaling tradition, and developed into its present form with the incorporation of knobbed gongs from Sunda. Its importance stems from its association with the indigenous cultures that inhabited these islands prior to the influences of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, Christianity or the West, making Kulintang the most developed tradition of Southeast Asian archaic gong-chime ensembles.

Technically, kulintang is the Maguindanao, Ternate and Timor term for the idiophone of metal gong kettles which are laid horizontally upon a rack to create an entire kulintang set. It is played by striking the bosses of the gongs with two wooden beaters. Due to its use across a wide variety groups and languages, the kulintang is also called kolintang by the Maranao and those in Sulawesi, kulintangan, gulintangan by those in Sabah and the Sulu Archipelago and totobuang by those in central Maluku.

By the twentieth century, the term kulintang had also come to denote an entire Maguindanao ensemble of five to six instruments. Traditionally the Maguindanao term for the entire ensemble is basalen or palabunibunyan, the latter term meaning “an ensemble of loud instruments” or “music-making” or in this case “music-making using a kulintang.”

Geographic extent

Map of kulintang music in Southeast Asia.

Kulintang belongs to the larger unit/stratum of “knobbed gong-chime culture” prevalent in Southeast Asia. It is considered one of the region’s three major gong ensembles, alongside the gamelan of western Indonesia and piphat of Thailand, Burma, Cambodia and Laos, which use gongs and not wind or string instruments to carry the melodic part of the ensemble. Like the other two, kulintang music is primarily orchestral with several rhythmic parts orderly stacked one upon another. It is also based upon the pentatonic scale. However, kulintang music differs in many aspects from gamelan music, primarily in the way the latter constructs melodies within a framework of skeletal tones and prescribed time interval of entry for each instruments. The framework of kulintang music is more flexible and time intervals are nonexistent, allowing for such things as improvisations to be more prevalent.

Because kulintang-like ensembles extended over various groups with various languages, the term used for the horizontal set of gongs varied widely. Along with it begin called kulintang, it is also called kolintang, kolintan, kulintangan, kwintangan, k’lintang, gong sembilan, gong duablas, momo, totobuang, nekara, engkromong, kromong/enkromong and recently kakula/kakula nuada. Kulintang-like instruments are played by the Maguindanao, Maranao, Iranun, Kalagan, Kalibugan and more recently the Tboli, Blaan and Subanao of Mindanao, the Tausug, Samal, Sama/Badjao, Yakan and the Sangir/Sangil of the Sulu, the Ambon, Banda, Seram, Ternate, Tidore, and Kei of Maluku, the Bajau, Suluk, Murut,[13] Kadazan-Dusan, Kadayah and Paitanic Peoples of Sabah, the Malays of Brunei, the Bidayuh and Iban/Sea Dayak of Sarawak, the Bolaang Mongondow and Kailinese/Toli-Toli of Sulawesi and other groups in Banjarmasin and Tanjung[14] in Kalimantan and Timor.

Instrument

Kulintang.

Description

The instrument called the “kulintang” (or its other derivative terms) consist of a row/set of 5 to 9 graduated pot gongs, horizontally laid upon a frame arranged in order of pitch with the lowest gong found on the players’ left. The gongs are laid in the instrument face side up atop two cords/strings running parallel to the entire length of the frame, with bamboo/wooden sticks/bars resting perpendicular across the frame creating an entire kulintang set called a pasangan.

The different sized brass kulintang gongs.
The light beaters used to strike the gong bosses.

The gongs could weigh roughly from two pounds to three and 1/8 pounds and have dimensions from 6–10 inches for their diameters and 3–5 inches for their height. Traditionally they are made from bronze but due to the shortage of bronze after World War II, and the subsequent use of scrap metal, brass gongs with shorter decaying tones have become commonplace.

The kulintang frame known as an antangan by the Maguindanao (means to “arrange”) and langkonga by the Maranao could have designs that could be particularly crude made from only bamboo/wooden poles or highly decorated, rich with artistic designs like the traditional okil/okir motifs or arabesque designs. It is considered taboo to step or cross over the antangan while the kulintang gongs are placed on it.

Individual names for each kulintang gong
Those in the Sulu Archipelago play the kulintang on the floor.

Technique

The kulintang is played by striking the bosses of the gongs with two wooden beaters. When playing the kulintang, the Maguindanao and Maranao would always sit on chairs while for the Tausug/Suluk and other groups that who play the kulintangan, they would commonly sit on the floor.Modern techniques include twirling the beaters, juggling them in midair, changing the arrangement of the gongs either before or while playing, crossings hands during play or adding very rapid fire strokes all in an effort to show off a player’s grace and virtuosity.

Casting

Kulintang gongs are made using the cire perdue method, a lost-wax process used for casting the individual gongs. The first phase is the creation of wax molds of the gongs. In the past, before the availability of standardized wax sheets made specifically for foundry use, the molds were made out of either beeswax (talo) or candle wax (kandila). The wax mold is covered with a special mixture of finely-powdered coal/mud, which is applied on the wax surface using a brush. The layers are then left to dry under the sun, after which the entire mold is heated in a furnace to melt away the wax and hardening the coal/mud mixture, leaving behind a hollowed shell. With this hardened mold, molten bronze is poured down the mold’s mouth cavity, cooled to a certain degree, then the coal/mud is broken apart, revealing a new gong. The gong is then refined, cleaned, and properly identified by the panday (gong-maker). Finally, the finished product is refined using the tongkol process, tuning the gongs either by hammering the boss from the inside to slightly raise its pitch, or by hammering the boss from the outside to lower the pitch. The correct tuning is found by ear, with players striking a sequence of gongs, looking for a melodic contour they are familiar with.

Tuning

Unlike westernized instrumentation, there is no set tuning for kulintang sets throughout the Philippines.[22] Great variation exist between each set due to differences in make, size and shape, alloy used giving each kulintang set a unique pitch level, intervals and timbre.[23] Though the tuning varies greatly, there does exist some uniformity to contour when same melody heard on different kulintang sets.[20] This common counter results in similar interval relationships of more or less equidistant steps between each of the gongs.[24] This tuning system, not based upon equal temperament or upon a system of standard pitches but on a similar/certain pattern of large and small intervals, could also be found among the gamelan orchestras of western Indonesia.[21] In fact, though the Maguindanao, Maranao and Tausug artists technically have no concept of scale (because emphasis placed on the concept of “rhythmic modes”), the Pelog and Slendro scales of Java were found to be most satisfactory to their own varying pentatonic/heptatonic scales.

Example of kulintang cipher notation.

Notation system

Because this music was catered for by acephalous societies, kulintang repertory was unfettered by an indigenous notation system. Compositions were passed down orally from generation to generation negating the need for notation for the pieces. Recent attempts have been made to transcribe the music using cipher notation, with gongs indicated by a numbering system for example, starting from 1 to 8 with the lowest gong starting at number 1 for an eight gong kulintang set.

Feminine instrument

The kulintang is traditionally considered a women’s instrument by many groups: the Maguindanao, Maranao, Tausug/ Sukul, Samal, Badjao/Sama, Illanum, Kadazan, Murut, Bidayuh and Iban. Traditionally, the playing of the kulintang was associated with graceful, slow, frail and relaxed movements that showed elegance and decorum common among females. Nowadays, with both women and men playing all five instruments, the kulintang seen strictly as a woman’s instrument has waned, and in fact today, the most well known players of the kulintang happen to be men.

A kulintang ensemble performance in Daly City, California.

Performance

The main purpose for kulintang music in the community is to function as social entertainment at a nonprofessional, folk level. This music is unique in that it is considered a public music in the sense everyone is allowed to participate. Not only do the players play, but audience members are also expected to participate.These performances are important in that they bring people in the community and adjacent regions together, helping unify communities that otherwise may not have interacted with one another. Traditionally, when performers play kulintang music, their participation is voluntary. Musicians see performances as an opportunity to receive recognition, prestige and respect from the community and nothing more.

Generally, performances can be classified as either formal ones or informal. During formal performances adherents follow a traditional set of rules that would govern playing and it usually involved people from outside the home. Informal performances are quite the opposite. The strict rules that normally govern play are often ignored and the performers are usually between people well acquainted with one another, usually close family members. These performances usually were times when amateurs practiced on the instruments, young boys and girls gathered the instruments, substituting the kulintang with the saronay and inubab. Ensembles didn’t necessary have to have five instruments like formal performances: they could be composed of only four instruments (three gandingan gongs, a kulintang, an agung, and a dabakan), three instruments (a kulintang, a dabakan, and either an agung or three gandingan gongs) or simply just one instrument (kulintang solo).

Social functions


Kulintang music generally could be found as the social entertainment at a host of different occasions. It is used during large feasts, festive/harvest gatherings, for entertainment of visiting friends and relatives, and at parades. Kulintang music also accompanies ceremonies marking significant life events, such as weddings and returnees from the Hajj. Kulintang music also plays a significant role during state functions, used during official celebrations, entertaining of foreign dignitaries and important visitors of distant lands, court ceremonies of either the sultanate or village chieftains,enthroning/coronations of a new leader and the transferral of a sultanate from one family to another.

A kulintang ensemble accompanying a healing ritual dance.

Kulintang music is prohibited from being played inside mosques and during Islamic rites/observances/holidays, such as the fasting month (Ramadhan), where playing is only allowed at night during the time when people are allowed to eat. It is also prohibited during the mourning period of the death of important person, during funerals, and during the peak times of the planting and harvest season.

The gandingan is normally chosen for playing apad renditions

Other uses

Kulintang instrument has uses other than public performances. It also is used to accompany healing ceremonies/rituals (pagipat)/animistic religious ceremonies. Though this practice has died out among the Maranao due to its non-Islamic nature, some areas in Mindanao, Sabah and Maluku still practice this ancient tradition.

Kulintang music can be used for communicating long distance messages from one village or longhouse to another. Called apad, these renditions mimic the normal speaking tones of the Maguindanao language, creating a specific message or, through the use of double entendre, a social commentary understood by nearly any adult native Maguindanao speaker. However, apad is falling into disuse because times have changed, and the necessity of its use for long-distance communication purposes has faded away. Anun as a music without a message, is used instead to express sentiments and feelings, and has come more and more into use due to its compatibility with the musical elaborations and idiosyncratic styles of the times.

An agung contestant performing on the agung using two balus.

Kulintang music was also crucial in relation to courtships due to the very nature of Islamic custom, which did not allow for unmarried men and women to intermingle. Traditionally, unmarried daughters were kept in a special chamber in the attic called a lamin, off-limit to visitors and suitors. It was only when she was allowed to play during kulintang performances that suitors were allowed to view her. Because of this, kulintang music was rare socially approved vehicles for interaction among the sexes.

Musical contest, particularly among the Maguindanao, have become a unique feature of these kulintang performances. They occur at almost all the formal occasions mentioned above, particularly weddings. What has made the Maguindanao stand out from the other groups is that they practice solo gong contest – with individual players showcasing their skill on the various ensemble instruments – the agung, gandingan and the kulintang – as opposed to only group contest, where performers from one town and another town are pitted against each other.


Compositions

Rhythmic modes

Kulintang music has no set compositions due to its concept of rhythmic modes. A rhythmic mode (or designation or genre or pattern) is defined as a musical unit that binds together the entire five instrument ensemble. By adding together the various rhythms of each instrument, one could create music and by changing one of the rhythms, one could create different music. This is the basis of the rhythmic mode.

Improvisation

The kulintang player’s ability to improvise within the parameters of a rhythmic mode is a must. As with gamelan orchestras, each kulintang mode has a kind of theme the kulintang player “dresses up” by variations of ornamentation, manipulating segments by inserting repetitions, extensions, insertions, suspensions, variations and transpositions. This occurs at the discretion of the kulintang player. Therefore, the kulintang player functions not only as the one carrying the melody, but also as the conductor of the entire ensemble. She determines the length of each rendition and could change the rhythm at anytime, speeding up or slowing down, accord to her personal taste and the composition she plays.

This emphasis on improvisation was essential due traditional role of the music as entertainment for the entire community. Listeners in the audience expected players to surprise and astound them by playing in their own unique style, and by incorporating improvisation to make newer versions of the piece. If a player simply imitated a preceding player, playing patterns without any improvisation, the audience members would believe she/he to be repetitious and mundane. This also explains why set performance pieces for musical productions are different in some respect — young men/women would be practicing before an event, therefore rarely relying on improvisations.