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Philippine Bamboo: a gift to world music
Posted on September 17, 2005 - 8:00pm :: Good News | ISD-Philippines | Culture
September 13, 2005 | Manila Bulletin
TF! Editorial Comment: Bamboo is being rediscovered as a plant of multiple uses, known for its combination of strength and flexibility. Actually a fast-growing grass, bamboo has a long history of use as food source, construction material, and even as musical instrument among many other uses. In the Philippines, bamboo plays a culturally and economically significant role, and as discussed in the article below, bamboo musical instruments are part of a rich bamboo musical tradition which will be highlighted during the First National Bamboo Music Festival Sept. 21-23 in Manila.
The Tongali, Paldong, Saggeypo, Diwdiw-as, Kolitong and Tongatong are only a few of the fascinating bamboo musical instruments that, to this day, remain unknown to many modern Filipinos raised in an environment dominated by music that is not their own.
The Philippine bamboo as a musical instrument is still viewed by the Filipino people as second class compared to western instruments. Nonetheless, groups like the Pangkat Kawayan have shared the limelight with western counterparts and proven themselves as comparable to western chamber ensembles.
Prof. Felipe de Leon, Jr., NCCA head of the National Committee on Music and Project Director of the First National Bamboo Music Festival, explains that the country's bamboo music is a reflection of our people's ingenuity and our sense of community.
It also embodies the many foreign influences we have been subject to and yet it is neither American, Spanish nor generically Asian but distinctly Filipino.
It was ingenuity that brought about the creation of the Musikong Bumbong of Bulacan.
Bulacan's 19th century nationalists and revolutionists in search of a true Filipino sound replaced popular foreign marching brass band instruments with bamboo trumpets, clarinets, flutes, French horns, trombones, basses and saxophones.
The new bamboo medium gave the Musikong Bumbong a different tone, one that was more playful, pleasant and entertaining, a perfect match for the Bulacan fiestas.
Prof. De Leon also illustrated that unlike linearly structured western music which can be played by one artist alone, indigenous Filipino bamboo music is a product of the interlocking rhythms of several players.
This meant that each musical participant contributed a beat (or rhythmic pattern) which he or she plays within the spaces left by other musicians who were also playing their respective beats.
"Pakiramdaman yan," Prof. De Leon explains. Also, in this musical improvisation, no rhythmic pattern plays soloist. Each pattern is of equal importance. The result is a harmonious a rhythm perfected by teamwork, consideration and respect among players.
"To really appreciate the use of bamboo, puntahan mo ang mga katutubo (go to the indigenous and Muslim Filipino cultural communities)," says Professor de Leon.
He emphasizes that our ethnic communities exhibit the most varied kinds ands use of bamboo musical instruments.
For example, he makes mention of the Bunkaka, a section of bamboo with a split end that is struck at its open end to create sound. This particular instrument is either used to drive away spirits or simply for groups to entertain themselves when traveling on foot.
Other instruments he enumerated were the Tongali (nose flute), Kubing (mouth harp), Paldong (lip valley flute), Saggeypo (six bamboo pipes blown on the open end and played in interlocking rhythm), Diwdiw-as (pan pipes), Kolitong (bamboo zither), Tongatong (bamboo stamping tubes), Gabbang (bamboo xylophones) and Bantula ( a slit bamboo drum used to call people).
This list however represents but a very small portion of the actual variety of bamboo instruments we have in the country.
And if there was something that differentiates the bamboo from the instruments of the West, it would be its "color" or which Prof. De Leon clarified as the quality of their sound.
Unlike tone-producing western instruments with their focused pitch, the bamboo gives a broad pitched tone, a certain indeterminacy in sound (like the sound produced by a bell), that is beautiful, relaxing and that which echoes the music of nature.
And when played by another bamboo instrument, Prof de Leon says that the music can even put a person into a trance and make him or her at peace with the world.
The many admirable features of our bamboo instruments and the pressing need to give due recognition to our rich bamboo musical traditions are what inspired the setting up of the First National Bamboo Music Festival which will take place from Sept. 21-23.
Aptly dubbed as Tawag ng Bantula!, the festival is a call to awaken Filipinos so that they may realize the beauty of their musical heritage and the significance of their major contribution to the music world.
Tawag ng Bantula! is hosted by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Musicological Society of the Philippines, in cooperation with St. Paul Manila and the UST Conservatory of Music.
The festival will hold lectures, workshops and performances at the University of Santo Tomas, St. Paul Manila and the UP Diliman.
Internet Source: Original Link to Article
TF! Editorial Comment: Bamboo is being rediscovered as a plant of multiple uses, known for its combination of strength and flexibility. Actually a fast-growing grass, bamboo has a long history of use as food source, construction material, and even as musical instrument among many other uses. In the Philippines, bamboo plays a culturally and economically significant role, and as discussed in the article below, bamboo musical instruments are part of a rich bamboo musical tradition which will be highlighted during the First National Bamboo Music Festival Sept. 21-23 in Manila.
The Tongali, Paldong, Saggeypo, Diwdiw-as, Kolitong and Tongatong are only a few of the fascinating bamboo musical instruments that, to this day, remain unknown to many modern Filipinos raised in an environment dominated by music that is not their own.
The Philippine bamboo as a musical instrument is still viewed by the Filipino people as second class compared to western instruments. Nonetheless, groups like the Pangkat Kawayan have shared the limelight with western counterparts and proven themselves as comparable to western chamber ensembles.
Prof. Felipe de Leon, Jr., NCCA head of the National Committee on Music and Project Director of the First National Bamboo Music Festival, explains that the country's bamboo music is a reflection of our people's ingenuity and our sense of community.
It also embodies the many foreign influences we have been subject to and yet it is neither American, Spanish nor generically Asian but distinctly Filipino.
It was ingenuity that brought about the creation of the Musikong Bumbong of Bulacan.
Bulacan's 19th century nationalists and revolutionists in search of a true Filipino sound replaced popular foreign marching brass band instruments with bamboo trumpets, clarinets, flutes, French horns, trombones, basses and saxophones.
The new bamboo medium gave the Musikong Bumbong a different tone, one that was more playful, pleasant and entertaining, a perfect match for the Bulacan fiestas.
Prof. De Leon also illustrated that unlike linearly structured western music which can be played by one artist alone, indigenous Filipino bamboo music is a product of the interlocking rhythms of several players.
This meant that each musical participant contributed a beat (or rhythmic pattern) which he or she plays within the spaces left by other musicians who were also playing their respective beats.
"Pakiramdaman yan," Prof. De Leon explains. Also, in this musical improvisation, no rhythmic pattern plays soloist. Each pattern is of equal importance. The result is a harmonious a rhythm perfected by teamwork, consideration and respect among players.
"To really appreciate the use of bamboo, puntahan mo ang mga katutubo (go to the indigenous and Muslim Filipino cultural communities)," says Professor de Leon.
He emphasizes that our ethnic communities exhibit the most varied kinds ands use of bamboo musical instruments.
For example, he makes mention of the Bunkaka, a section of bamboo with a split end that is struck at its open end to create sound. This particular instrument is either used to drive away spirits or simply for groups to entertain themselves when traveling on foot.
Other instruments he enumerated were the Tongali (nose flute), Kubing (mouth harp), Paldong (lip valley flute), Saggeypo (six bamboo pipes blown on the open end and played in interlocking rhythm), Diwdiw-as (pan pipes), Kolitong (bamboo zither), Tongatong (bamboo stamping tubes), Gabbang (bamboo xylophones) and Bantula ( a slit bamboo drum used to call people).
This list however represents but a very small portion of the actual variety of bamboo instruments we have in the country.
And if there was something that differentiates the bamboo from the instruments of the West, it would be its "color" or which Prof. De Leon clarified as the quality of their sound.
Unlike tone-producing western instruments with their focused pitch, the bamboo gives a broad pitched tone, a certain indeterminacy in sound (like the sound produced by a bell), that is beautiful, relaxing and that which echoes the music of nature.
And when played by another bamboo instrument, Prof de Leon says that the music can even put a person into a trance and make him or her at peace with the world.
The many admirable features of our bamboo instruments and the pressing need to give due recognition to our rich bamboo musical traditions are what inspired the setting up of the First National Bamboo Music Festival which will take place from Sept. 21-23.
Aptly dubbed as Tawag ng Bantula!, the festival is a call to awaken Filipinos so that they may realize the beauty of their musical heritage and the significance of their major contribution to the music world.
Tawag ng Bantula! is hosted by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts and the Musicological Society of the Philippines, in cooperation with St. Paul Manila and the UST Conservatory of Music.
The festival will hold lectures, workshops and performances at the University of Santo Tomas, St. Paul Manila and the UP Diliman.
Internet Source: Original Link to Article
