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 Indonesia, Southern Philippines, Eastern Malaysia, Brunei and Timor, Kulintang evolved from a simple native signaling tradition, and developed into its present form with the incorporation of knobbed gongs from Sundanese people in Java Island, Indonesia. 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.
Joey Ayala is a Filipino singer, songwriter and former chairman of the music committee of the National Commission for Culture and the Arts. He is well known for his style of music that combines the sounds of Filipino ethnic instruments with modern pop music.
The culture of the Philippines is a combination of cultures of the East and West. Filipino identity was created primarily as a result of pre-colonial cultures, colonial influences and foreign traders intermixing and gradually evolving together. In pre-colonial times, the Philippines was a divided set of nations, islands and tribes being ruled by their own kings, chieftains, lakans, rajahs, datus and sultans. Every nation has its own identity and some are even part of a larger empire outside of what is now the Philippines. Manila, for example, was once part of the Islamic Sultanate of Brunei, and the Sulu Archipelago was also part of the Hindu Majapahit. The advent of colonial rule in the islands marked the beginning of the Philippines as an entity, a collection of Southeast Asian countries united under Spanish Empire.
The Jew's harp, also known as jaw harp, mouth harp, gewgaw, guimbard, khomus, trump, Ozark harp, Galician harp, or murchunga, is a lamellophone instrument, consisting of a flexible metal or bamboo tongue or reed attached to a frame.
A suling or Seruling is a Southeast Asian bamboo ring flute especially in Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore. It is used in gamelan ensembles.
Tugaya, officially the Municipality of Tugaya, is a 5th class municipality in the province of Lanao del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 23,814 people.
Ganassi, officially the Municipality of Ganassi, is a 4th class municipality in the province of Lanao del Sur, Philippines. According to the 2015 census, it has a population of 23,016 people.
The agung is a set of two wide-rimmed, vertically suspended gongs used by the Maguindanao, Maranao, Sama-Bajau and Tausug people of the Philippines as a supportive instrument in kulintang ensembles. The agung is also ubiquitous among other groups found in Palawan, Panay, Mindoro, Mindanao, Sabah, Sulawesi, Sarawak and Kalimantan as an integral part of the agung orchestra.
The dabakan is a single-headed Philippine drum, primarily used as a supportive instrument in the kulintang ensemble. Among the five main kulintang instruments, it is the only non-gong element of the Maguindanao ensemble.
Tinikling is a traditional Philippine folk dance which originated during the Spanish colonial era. The dance involves two people beating, tapping, and sliding bamboo poles on the ground and against each other in coordination with one or more dancers who step over and in between the poles in a dance. It is traditionally danced to rondalla music, a sort of serenade played by an ensemble of stringed instruments which originated in Spain during the Middle Ages.
The luntang is a type of Philippine xylophone of the Maguindanaon people, strung vertically, with five horizontal logs hung in ascending order arranged by pitch. The Maguindanaon refer to this instrument as a luntang while the Yakan call it a kwintangan kayo. The cylindrical logs are beaten at the edge to create sounds and can be played either solo or with two people on either side. Among the Maguindanaon, the luntang is used only for self-entertainment purposes, to keep farmers awake while at the same time keeping the birds away from the fields. Commonly used for long distance communication some times ago by the Maguindanaon, the Yakan have taken its use a step further: using it for social interactions between sexes as well.
The palendag, also called Pulalu, Palandag (Bagobo), Pulala (Bukidnon) and Lumundeg (Banuwaen) is a type of Philippine bamboo flute, the largest one used by the Maguindanaon, a smaller type of this instrument is called the Hulakteb (Bukidnon). A lip-valley flute, it is considered the toughest of the three bamboo flutes to use because of the way one must shape one's lips against its tip to make a sound. The construction of the mouthpiece is such that the lower end is cut diagonally to accommodate the lower lip and the second diagonal cut is make for the blowing edge. Among the Bukidnon, a similar instrument with the same construction except that it is three-fourths the length of the palendag, is called the hulakteb
The kutiyapi, or kudyapi, is a Philippine two-stringed, fretted boat-lute. It is the only stringed instrument among the Palawano people, and one of several among other groups such as the Maranao and Manobo. It is four to six feet long with nine frets made of hardened beeswax. The instrument is carved out of solid soft wood such as that from the jackfruit tree.
Arts in the Philippines refer to all the various forms of the arts that have developed and accumulated in the Philippines from the beginning of civilization in the country up to the present era. They reflect the range of artistic influences on the country's culture, including indigenous forms of the arts, and how these influences have honed the country's arts. These arts are divided into two distinct branches, namely, traditional arts and non-traditional arts. Each branch is further divided into various categories with subcategories.
Philippine dance has played a tremendous role in Filipino culture. From one of the oldest dated dances called the Tinikling, to other folkloric dances such as the Pandanggo, Cariñosa, and Subli, and even to more modern-day dances like the ballet, it is no doubt that dance in the Philippine setting has integrated itself in society over the course of many years and is significantly imbedded in culture. Each of these dances originated in a unique way and serve a certain purpose, showcasing how diverse Philippine dances are.
Bamboo's natural hollow form makes it an obvious choice for many musical instruments.
Kularts is a San Francisco, California,-based non-profit organization founded in 1985. It presents contemporary and tribal Filipino arts. Its mission is to expand the understanding of American Filipino culture, through sponsoring productions and presentations in the United States. Through its programs of performances, visual arts, community dialogues, and festivals, the organization hopes to advance the spirit and integrity of ancestral Filipino art and cultures.
Kahawa Sūg, also known as Sulu coffee or Sulu robusta, is a single-origin coffee varietal grown by the Tausug people of the Sulu Archipelago, Philippines. It is a robusta cultivar, belonging to the species Coffea canephora. It originates from robusta plants introduced to Sulu in the 1860s. It is an important part of traditional Tausug culture. It is mostly consumed locally, though it has started being exported more widely in recent years. It is currently endangered by the introduction of modern higher yield coffee varieties.
Lucrecia Faustino Reyes-Urtula was a Filipino choreographer, theater director, teacher, author and researcher on ethnic dance. She was the founding director of the Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Company and was named National Artist of the Philippines for dance in 1988.
