THE RHYTMIC MODES OF MAGUINDANAO

1. Binalig  - general expression of feeling

____I_____I______I______I_______I_____   R.H.

______II______I______I_____II______II       L.H.

  

2. Sinulog - expresses a feeling of sadness or sentiment

__I_______I________I__I__I_____I_______I______I_I__I______

______II______II_______I____II_____II______II____I_________

3. Tidtu - virtuosity

____________I___________I___________I____________I

_______I__________I___________I__________I_________

4. Tahunggo - rituals associated with Sagayan dance

_______I__________I___________I___________I_______

_______I____II_________II_____________I____I_______ 

Pok Pok Alimpako

Pok pok alimpako
Pokling pakong piko
Malalaguy si dali
Daon si Buru-buru
Bukar ka sa isa

(Repeat)

Ibayaw su alongan
Na ibaba su bitoon

(Repeat)

Na kuru kuru kuru
ta makaisa

No te vayas

No te vayas, no te vayas de ZamboangaQue me puedes, que me puedes olvidarNo te vayas, no te vayas, ni me dejesQue yo sin ti, no puedo estar

No llores, paloma miaNo llores que volvereNo llores que en cuando lleguePaloma mia, te escribire

Con un pluma de aveY un pedazo de papelCon la sangre de mis venasPaloma mia, te escribire.

Here is an English translation of No te Vayas de Zamboanga (which is actually erroneous)

Don't you go, don't you go to far Zamboanga

Where you may forget your darling far away

Don't you go, don't you go, for if you leave me

How can I, without you stay?

Oh weep not, my dear Paloma

Oh weep not, for I'll return

Oh weep not, my little darling

I shall remember, and I shall yearn.

With a feather of a bird

And a piece of paper

With the blood from my veins

My little darling, I shall write to you.

No Te Vayas de Zamboanga was written by Juan Cuadrado, Sr., a Spaniard who decided to stay in Zamboanga after the Spanish soldiers left the country.

Accordingly, this song was used in a Zarzuela entitled De Cavite A Zamboanga. In this Zarzuela, a Cavitena sings this song to her boyfriend who is going to Zamboanga. 

 This was composed by Juan Cuadrado, Sr., a Spaniard who decided to stay in Zamboanga after the Spanish troops left the country. He later married a Zamboangueña with whom he bore several children. According to the old-timers of the city, this song was composed among the taverns which Cuadrado used to frequent. There was no real intention to write the song, for Cuadrado was not a musician. But when the heart was full, then it was only music that could express its real feelings. The song was popularized when a Colonel Loving placed it down in music. The words of the songs goes this way.

http://zamboanga.net/songsandmusiczamboangainsert.htm

Darangen Epic of the Maranao People of Lake Lanao

the Darangen is an ancient epic song that encompasses a wealth of knowledge about the Maranao people who live in the Lake Lanao region of Mindanao. This southernmost island of the Philippine archipelago is the traditional homeland of the Maranao, one of the country’s three main Muslim groups.

The darangen is an epic chant associated with the Maranao people, with the core area of habitation being the province of Lanao del Sur in the island of Mindanao. Although other variations exist among the Maranao ethnic communities living in other areas, among the Maguindanao ethnic group, and Manobo groups to the Pacific Coast. The one in Lanao del Sur is considered the most definitive.

Comprising 17 cycles and a total of 72,000 lines, the Darangen celebrates episodes from Maranao history and the tribulations of mythical heroes. In addition to offering compelling narrative content, the epic explores the underlying themes of life and death, courtship, politics, love and aesthetics through symbol, metaphor, irony and satire. 

The Darangen also encodes customary law, standards of social and ethical behaviour, notions of aesthetic beauty, and social values specific to the Maranao. To this day, elders refer to this time-honored text in the administration of customary law.

Meaning literally “to narrate in song” in the Maranao language, the Darangen existed before the arrival of Islam in the Philippines in the fourteenth century. Being part of a wider epic culture that is connected to early Sanskrit practices and extends through most of Mindanao, it offers insight into pre-Islamic cultural traditions of the Maranao people.

Though the Darangen has been largely transmitted orally, parts of the epic have been recorded in manuscripts using an ancient Arabic-based writing system. Being cherished as heirlooms by certain Maranao families, these manuscripts are highly valued for their antiquity and prestige value. 

Specialised performers of either sex sing the Darangen during wedding celebrations that typically last several nights. Performers must possess a prodigious memory, improvisational skills, poetic imagination, knowledge of customary law and genealogy, a flawless and elegant vocal technique, and the ability to engage an audience during long hours of performance. Music and dance sometimes accompany the chanting.

Nowadays, the Darangen is infrequently performed owing in part to its rich vocabulary and archaic linguistic forms that can only be understood by practitioners, elders and scholars. Indeed, the growing tendency to embrace mainstream Filipino lifestyles represents a serious threat to the survival of this ancient epic.



It is a pre-Islamic form of primarily oral literature, presently existing in an Islamic context. Implications contained in the epic point to influences reaching as far west as India. The epic is the culmination of all these influences and the core culture of the Maranao.

On November 25, 2005 the Maranao epic chant, the Darangen, was also proclaimed as another Philippine masterpiece of oral and intangible heritage of humanity.

UNESCO defines oral and intangible heritage as: "The totality of tradition-based creations of a cultural community, expressed by a group of individuals and recognized as reflecting the expectations of a community in so far as they reflect its cultural and social identity; its standards and values are transmitted orally, by imitation or by other means.

SIGNIFICANCE

An analysis of the role of the darangen in Maranao society will offer valuable clues into how the Maranao people relied on oral traditions to provide societal norms and solutions to certain economic, cultural and historical issues in their society.  The darangen remains an important source of information regarding the Maranao value system, social etiquette, mythology and marriage customs and traditions. Ancient Maranao society was highly structured, and prescribed a strict code of behavior.  In addition, the darangen explores the relationship between the earth-bound society and the more mythical sky kingdoms.  More importantly, the darangen contains the Maranao theories of governance and strategies for war and combat. The epic is a story of how communities struggled to maintain peace and defended their territories from invaders.  It is inevitable that the epic would be filled with advice for the warrior, such as how to handle a sword, how to declare war, and enter into treaties. (jtperalta)

REFERENCE:

http://www.unesco.org/culture/intangible-heritage/32apa_uk.htm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re33SdfjU0Q

http://www.ncca.gov.ph/about-culture-and-arts/culture-profile/culture-profile-intangible-
heritage.php

For a drama presentation of the Darangen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oN6Wtm28pEI


For the story of Darangen epic check the link
http://fil.wikipilipinas.org/index.php/Darangen
http://www.unesco.org/culture/intangible-heritage/32apa_uk.htm

The Musical Instruments of Mindanao

CHORDOPHONES (STRINGED INSTRUMENTS)

Kudyapi - is a guitar with two strings. It is about 1 1/2 m long and made of wood. It has a stick to support in its lower end and is played in the same position as cello. It is common among Tirurays of Cotabato.

Karaga - is a guitar made up of bamboo where the strings are slit from the bamboo itself. The bamboo is split and tied back in both ends, leaving a slit as resonator. The guitar has strings all around it. This is popular in Eastern Mindanao.

AEROPHONES (WIND INSTRUMENTS)

Sahunay - is a bamboo flute, leaving six holes for the fingers and trumpet made of coconut leaf. It is about 50 cm long and 3 cm in diameter. This is a bamboo flute of the Tausugs in Sulu.

Kinapaw - is a nose flute of the Tinguians.

IDIOPHONES (PERCUSSION INSTRUMENTS)

Kulintang - is a set of eight knobbed gongs in graduated sizes from largest to smallest mounted in a wooden frame, about a meter long. Muslim carvings decorated the frame. The kulintang is played by striking the gongs with two pieces of wood, about 12 inches long while the player squats on the floor. The instruments is popular in Sulu.

Gabbang - is similar to a xylophone. It is made of wooden box with one end wider than the other, and with an open top. Across top, wooden bars of different lengths are placed to fit the shape of the box, about 1 cm from each other. It is played by striking the wooden bars with a wooden hammer. This instruments is popular in Sulu.

Bunkaka or Bilbil  - is a bamboo musical instruments used by the Tinguians. It is a two-proged bamboo struck against the palm of one hand.

Agung - hangs from horizontal pole or wooden frame. The player stands besides the rim of the gong where he inserts his left arm through the ropes which suspend the instrument to position his hand comfortably at the knob. On the right hand, the player hold a mallet padded with rubber.

Gandingan - is a set of four graduated gongs, with thin rims and lower central knobs. They hang in pairs with the knobs of the lower pitched gongs facing each other. The same with the two higher pitched gongs. The pair of lower pitched gongs is positioned on the player's left side while the pair of the higher pitched gongs is on the right. The player usually a woman who stands between the two pair of gongs. Her body touches slightly the gong in the middle to prevent from swinging. She uses two padded mallets (one mallet for each air) to strike the gong's knobs.

Babendil - is small gong with thin rims and low central knobs. It is struck with thin bamboo sticks to produce a metallic sound.

There are three ways to play the babendil.

1. by striking the rim of the suspended gong  with a pair of sticks on the left hand.

2. by striking the gong's rim with the right hand using one stick while the left hand grasps the rim.

3. by laying the instruments upside and striking the gong's rim with the two sticks.

MEMBRANOPHONES (DRUM INSTRUMENTS)

Dabakan - is a goblet -shaped drum, which has a single head covered with goat, lizard or snake skin. It is struck with two thin bamboo sticks about 18 inches in length.

Neguet - is a drum from Cotabato, 30 cm high, 20 cm in diameter

Sulibaw - is a drum 1/2 meter long and 15 cm in diameter

Tugo - is a tiruray drum 25 cm long, 20 cm in diameter.

Reference

Developing Mind and Body through MAPEH II, Zenaida c. Serrano and Carmelita A. Orsoe, Mind Builders Publishing House, copyright 2008

Images: Google images.

Music of Mindanao

The coastal and lowland areas of western Mindanao are homes of the Islamic cultures. Folk culture and court music dating way back in the 10th century or even much earlier are integrated in the musical traditions of the pre-Islamic culture. Music is frowned upon the fundamental Islamic view, but the influx of foreign Islamic cultures of the Arabs and Persians, has changed this view. The musical practices of the people in the coastal and lowland areas of Western Mindanao are vital element in their social life are the main source of their ethnic identities. The musical practices of these indigenous people are a mixture of Western and Non-western ideas.

The Three Classic Traditions of Mindanao

The Magindanao, Maranao, and the Tausug are the three classic traditions of Mindanao.

The MAGUINDANAO KULINTANG ENSEMBLE is made up of five instruments - the kulintang, agung, dabakan, gandingan, and babendil. PALABUNIBUNYAN is the term given to the Maguindanao kulintang ensemble. It means an ensemble of loud - sounding instruments and is heard on various important occasions like wedding (KABILANG), water baptism (PAIGO or RAGAT), the curing rite (KAGAGIPAT).

THE MAGUINDANAO KULINTANG ENSEMBLE also called Palabunibunyan

1. two agung - one player each agung

2. one babendil - one player with two flexible sticks

3. one dabakan - played with two flexible sticks

4. four gandingan - played in pairs, one player to a pair

5. one kulintang - one player using two sticks of one inch diameter

TWO AGONG


ONE BABENDL



ONE DABAKAN

THE MARANAO KULINTANG ENSEMBLE called as the Pangkat Kulintang

1. 2 agong (panaggis-an and pumalasan) - two players
2. 1 babendil - one player with one stick
3. 1 dabakan - one player with two sticks

THE TAUSUG KULINTANG ENSEMBLE  is also called Pangkat Kulintangan

1. two dadabuan - played as a pair by one player with padded stick
2. two gandang - one player for each
3. one kulintangan - played by one with two sticks
4. one tungagalan - an agong played with padded sticks



the Tausug Kulintang Ensemble

link: http://www.kipas.nl/Instruments/Kulintangensemble.htm

reference: Developing Mind and Body Through MAPEH II pp39-41
                  Mind Builders Publishing House 1999, Project 3, Quezon City

Images from Google Images

bungkaka