The Bamboo Ensemble of The Islamic People of Mindanao

The Bamboo
Ensemble of the
Islamic People Of
Mindanao
The Bamboo Ensemble
Bamboo (of the grass family) is known for its tall
hollow stems and considered one of the fastest
growing plants around the world. It has been
used for everyday objects like dishes, chopsticks,
furniture, flooring, decorative paneling, and
musical instruments for over 4000 years. They
are notable for their economic and cultural
significance around Asia as raw products or
materials for building, food source, accessories,
paper and utensils/tableware.
In the Philippines, hundreds of species of
bamboo are grown all over the country.
They are used in various ways and purposes
as timber substitute in building houses,
fishing poles, water pipes and carriers.
Because of their natural characteristics and
abundance in the locality, variety of music -
making devices also have been fashioned
out of it. These instruments are either
blown, plucked, or even struck.
A. Aerophones
These musical instruments produce sound
primarily by the vibration of the air within
This includes the following:

1. Suling
2. Palendag
3. Tumpong
4. Saunay
1. Suling
It is a generic term for flute in most
Indonesian language and applied to the ring
flute by the Muslim Jamamapun,
Maguindanao, Sama, Tausug and Yakan.
2. Palendag (also called Pulalu
among the Manobos and
Mansaka, Palandag among
Bagobo, Pulal among Bukidnon,
and Lumundeg among
Banuwaen).
It is a lip valley flute regarded as
the toughest bamboo flute to
play as the player must shape his
or her lips against its tips to
make a sound.
3. Tumpong (also called inci among the Maranao)
is the most common flute played by the
Maguindanao. It makes sound through a bamboo
reed on top of the instrument and when the air
stream produced is passed over an airhole atop
of the instruments.
4. Saunay
It is a six-holed bamboo reed (thin strip materials
made from giant cane) flute capped by a sampung
simud (mouth guard), wherein the house of the
resonating chamber is made of palm leaves and
the trumpet part is made of coconut leaf.
B. Chordophones
These are stringed instruments that
produce sounds by plucking, striking, or
bowing the strings attached to them.
1.Seronggagandi
2. Togo or Tangkel
1. Seronggagandi (Maranaw bamboo zither)
This is an embellished guitar-like
instrument which is made of bamboo tube
closed by a node at both ends.
2. Togo or Tangkel (Polychordal tube zither)
This instrument of Maguindanao is made
from bamboo tube closed on both ends by
nodes. It is approximately 50cm long with
small opening for more resonance.
C. Idiophone
These instruments have no definite pitch.
Its sound is produced by striking or rubbing,
plucking, or blowing the substance of the
instruments itself.
1.Kubing
2. Bamboo xylophone
a. Gabbang (native xylophone of Sulu)
b. Kulintang a Tamlang
3. Tagutok / Kagul
1. Kubing
The kubing (Jew’s harp/Jaw harp) is also
known as barambaw among the Tagalog,
Kinaban among the Mangyan, Kumbing
among the Manobo and kollibaw among the
Negritos.
2. Bamboo xylophone
These instruments have its sources in the
Malay Archipelago. They are found
throughout Palawan and the Southern
Philippines in Mindanao and the islands in
the Sulu Sea. It is commonly called gabbang
across the different groups (Samal and
Maranao, Tausog, Yakan and Maguindanao).
a. Gabbang (native xylophone of Sulu)
It is considered as an important and the most
popular instrument in Sulu. It is used to
accompany Tausug vocal music (songs for
entertainment) Sindil (sung verbal competition),
Liangkit (long solo pieces) and folk narrative song
parang sabil as kissa.
b. Kulintang a Tamlang
It is a different kind of bamboo
xylophone of the Maguindanaon
that uses a thick variety of
bamboo. It produces a sound by
hitting the ends of the blades.
It is used as a practice
instrument and takes the place
of the brass kulintang in the
ensemble. Kulintang kayu is
the wooden version of brass
kulintang.
3. Tagutok / Kagul (also called garakot in
Maranao, tagutok in Yakans and Bantula or
taguntong in Bukidnon). This type of
bamboo-scraper gong or slit drum of the
Maguindanaon and Visayans is played in the
rice paddies to guard against/scare away
voracious birds.
 What are the instruments of
the Bamboo Ensemble?

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