Music
is an integral part of Filipino life; it is used in courtship, as entertainment,
and in every sort of life ritual and religious ceremony.
A
Tinggian woman plays on the Diwdiwas,
a type of pan flute
Bamboo
nose flutes from the C. E. Smith collection. All of these are probably of
Bontok
manufacture.
Tinggians
playing nose flutes
Flute etching patterns employed by Bontok craftsmen
Source: de los Reyes (1975)
Another
instrument found almost everywhere is the bamboo guitar. Several strands of
surface fiber are pried away from the body while remaining loose at the ends;
bridges are then attached to provide tension and a tuning mechanism.
A
sort of jew's harp is found throughout the Philippines. It is used mostly
by young men in courting.
The
Bontok kalaleng, or nose flute, is made of a smallish variety of bamboo
called anes. It is usually about two feet long, which length is determined by
that between the nodes of the bamboo, one of which is removed and the other
left on. A half-centimeter hole is then made in the remaining node for the air
to be forced through; a hole about midway on the bottom is for the thumb, while
three more are usually made on the top for the right hand fingers. As you can
see, the third flute is much more elaborate, perhaps having been produced for
commercial purposes.
Nose
flutes are found everywhere in the Philippines. In truth, they are as commonly
played with the mouth as with the nose.
The
instruments most prized by Filipinos are the bronze gongs acquired in trade
with China. These are often regarded as precious family heirlooms, and are universally
employed in religious rites and dances. While usually only a pair of gongs are
used in alternation, sometimes a complete set of graded gongs will be played.
Bontoks
employing the khangsa in a ritual.
Bontok
flautist
Set
of Moslem gongs
