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The jew’s harp is a very thin
slit of bamboo or brass with a narrow vibrating tongue
in the middle longitudinal section. Placed between the
lips of the player, its tongue is made to vibrate by
striking the projecting end of the instrument with the
thumb or by pulling a string attached to it. The mouth
of the player
acts as the resonator, and as the shape of the mouth
cavity changes, the pitch and quality of the sound
varies. This enables the player to communicate message
with his instrument. For this reason, the jew’s harp
is a favorite of lovers and is played by both men and
women. It is thus considered a “speaking intrument”.
 The
jew’s harp is found in many tribes. The Maranao call
it kubing, the Tingguian, kolibau, and the
Tagbanua, aru-ding. The jew’s harp of the South
usually have handles carved with various serpent designs
and other scroll-like patterns, and sometimes punctuated
by head bangles and tassels as in the Maranaw kubing.
Suspended beams like the kagul may be
found only in such groups as the Tiruray and the Yakan
of Mindanao. The kagul consists of five logs ranging
from two to two-and-a-half meters long which are shaped
and pointed at the playing end. It is played by two
people: one plays in the middle of the log a repeated
rhythmic pattern or ostinato, while the second player
beats out a melody at the pointed ends of the other
logs. The logs are tuned relative to each other.
Another idiophone, the bamboo buzzer is known
variously as the balingbing or bunkaka (Kalinga)
and batiwtiw (Central Philippines). The bunkaka,
as the name implies, is a bamboo tube which is open or
split at one end. Sound is produced by striking the
split end against the palm. This instrument is played
alone or in groups as a form and diversion or to drive
away evil spirits along a forest trail.
Percussion sticks are common to the North and
South, like the Ifugao bangibang, and the Mangyan
kalutang. The bangibang is a row of sticks played
only in the rituals for curing very serious illness and
in death ceremonies. The instrument is composed of
sticks measuring from one to
two-and-a-half feet long with diameters ranging from one
to three inches, hanging from a string which also serves
as a handle. A stick is used to beat them in rhythm.
Sometimes, however, only two sticks are used, which are
played by striking one against the other.
The well-known gong is found throughout the
tribes in varying forms. All gongs in the South have a
boss, a deep or shallow mound resembling a kettle or a
pan on the top middle portion of the gong, the rims of
which angle slightly inward. They may either be
suspended or laid horizontally in a row. In the North, a
flat gong called gangsa is widely regarded as the
most valued instrument. The agung, a large gong
with boss, is known to both the Tagbanua of Palawan and
Mangyan of Mindoro. The Magindanao also use a gong
called agung, which is played like a brass tom-tom by
striking the boss or knob with a padded and rounded
stick.
In the South, the gong may be used as a rhythmic
counterpoint to the drum (Tagbanua), as an accompaniment
to an ensemble of gongs called the kulintang (Maguindanao
and Maranao) or with other agungs (Bagobo) producing an
ostinato rhythm and melody to accompany the dances.
The kulintang, or gongs in a row, is basically a
melody instrument played by a single performer as a solo
instrument or as part of an ensemble. It consists of
eight gongs placed horizontally in a frame and tuned to
a flexible pentatonic or five-tone scale. Among the
Islamic peoples of the South of the kulintang ensemble,
where it is the primary melody instrument supported by
the dabakan (A conical drum), agung, gandingan
(four suspended narrow-rimmed gongs), babandil
(small gong, sometimes the last gong of the kulintang)
– all of which act as drones constantly repeating a
particular rhythmic pattern for the duration of the
music. The kulintang player acts as the central player
and makes various improvisations on the chosen mode
moving in progressively ascending and descending steps
of sounds. Usually, three types of rhythmic modes are
utilized, namely, the duyug, sinulug and tidtu.
The dabakan starts with the music, announcing the mode,
while the other instruments follow.
The kulintang ensemble is often considered as the
most cultivated of the region’s musical expressions.
Aside from being a medium of entertainment and
hospitality, the kulintang also serves as a vehicle for
social interaction and group solidarity and for learning
ethical principles.
Other idiophones of the South include the gabbang
or bamboo xylophone of the Tausog of Sulu, and the edel
or log drum, a plank idiophone made of molave wood
suspended and beaten with sticks and used by the
Tabakaolo, Bilaan and Manobo.
Probably the most important and best known
membranophones of the North are the two conical drums of
the Ibaloi – the sulibao and the kimbal.
The sulibao has a higher pitch than the kimbal and is
played with a padded stick. Usually, however, these
instruments are joined by two other pairs of idiophones
in the sulibao ensemble, namely, the kalsa and
the pinsak, which are two flat gongs, and the palas
which are two short iron bard handled by a single
player. Similar types of drums exist in the South such
as the dabakan of the Maguindanao and the dadabuan
of the Maranao. In addition to these conical drums,
cylindrical types of drums are exemplified by the tambul
of the Maguindanao and the gimbal of the Tagbanua.
Like the instruments, vocal music expresses and
transmits in a concrete and vivid manner a great variety
of the thoughts, beliefs, customs, lifestyles,
temperament and way of life of the indigenous peoples.
Singing is a main component of life among them. There
will be songs and singers, singing solo or in
leader-chorus style with or without accompaniment, with
or without the benefit of words (the latter includes
whistling, a highly developed musical from among the
Maguindanao of Mindanao).
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