Music of the Philippines

I am choosing to explore the music of the Philippines for my final blog of the semester. My fiancé's father is from the Philippines which is one of the reasons I was inspired to study the music of this culture. I actually had travel plans to visit some of my fiancé's family in the Philippines last summer, but unfortunately, the coronavirus canceled our trip. For now, the closest I can get is to study the culture of the Philippines through their music. 

The Philippines is in Southeast Asia situated in the western Pacific Ocean and is comprised of approximately 7,641 islands. Similar to many of the cultures that we have studied throughout the semester, the Philippines experienced the effects of colonization. Spanish colonization of the Philippines began around the year 1521 when the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived leading a Spanish fleet. In 1565 the Philippines officially became apart of the Spanish empire and remained as such until 1898 after the Philippine revolution. It is important to keep this information in mind as many aspects of Filipino music will reflect the Spanish influence. 

I asked my future father-in-law about any traditional Filipino instruments that came to mind, and the first one that he mentioned was the bandurria. The bandurria is a 12 stringed plucked chordophone that was adopted from the Spanish. The Filippino bandurria is tuned a whole step lower than the Spanish counterpart and is often played in the rondalla which is an ensemble of plucked stringed instruments. While the concept of the rondalla arrived from Spanish influence, the Filipinos quickly adapted their own style of the rondalla and incorporated Filipino folk dances called pandanggo. While the bandurria is the soprano instrument of the rondalla the laud (Spanish version of the lute) provides the harmony with a deeper sound. Similar to the bandurria the Filipino laud is tuned a whole step lower than the Spanish version, but both Spanish and Filipino lauds are often found in a rondalla. The octavina is another instrument with a similar timbre as the laud and also provides the inner harmonies of the ronadalla. The Italian mandolin is also being incorporated into more modern rondallas for a wider spectrum of sound, but it is not as common. Other instruments in the rondalla which are a more well-known include the double bass, the guitar, drums, and shakers. The first video I attached below does an excellent job demonstrating the sound of the rondalla and introducing the different instrumental sections. The second video below features another rondalla playing Filippino folk music. 

Indigenous music of the southern Philippines includes gong music which is derived from a native signaling tradition. Kulintang is the modern-day term given to this music form. Gong music is produced using an ensemble of gongs stricken with wooden beaters including sets of pot gongs, hanging gongs, and drums.  Unlike Western instruments, the tuning of the gongs is not standardized and varies greatly between sets. The kulintang has many similarities to the gamelan of Indonesia with regards to its use and its design as a set. However, the kulintang is different from the gamelan in the way that the music is more loosely structured and allows for improvisation. In the Philippines, certain styles of gong music may be referred to as "talking gongs". Several phrases of the native language can be mimicked using the gongs which makes the gongs sound like they are talking. I have attached a video below which has an example of the gongs being used to replicate speech patterns. 

Modern music of the Philippines is divided according to genres and decades similar to the way it is done in America. For example, the Philippines has their own rock music, pop music, choir music, jazz, 80s music, etc. When my fiancé and I spend time with his parents, his dad will occasionally play top musicians of the Philippines in the background. We had a discussion about the popular music of the Philippines and I learned about one of his favorite artists, Rey Valera, who was especially popular in the 70s and 80s although he is still active today. In his career, Rey Valera was a singer, songwriter, music director, film scorer, television host, and he is currently the head judge of a singing contest on television. The genre of music that Rey Valera was heavily involved in is called Manila sound which is characterized by its catchy melodic phrases. In general, Manila sound is lightly orchestrated, melodic, smooth, and fused with funk, light jazz, or disco. Below I have attached one of my future father-in-law's favorite songs by Rey Valera called Kung Tayo'y Magkakalayo. This song is sung in Tagalog which is native to the Philippines and is about two lovers.

Overall, I would describe the music of the Philippines as being highly syncretic. As mentioned, there was a significant amount of Spanish influence on the Philippines over the period of colonization. During this time, many Spanish instruments and ensembles were adapted into the Filippino culture. In addition, there was the influence of nearby countries of Southeast Asia and China. In particular, these countries were more influential on earlier traditional Filipino folk music. While I am still sad that I didn't get to visit the Philippines last summer, I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the culture through the music!

Thank you for keeping up with my blog throughout these past few weeks and for all of your wonderful comments. I hope you all have a great spring semester!

References

“Bandurria.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Dec. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bandurria#Philippines.

Blancaflor, Saleah. “120 Years after Philippine Independence from Spain, Hispanic Influence Remains.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 22 Apr. 2019, www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/120-years-after-philippine-independence-spain-hispanic-influence-remains-n912916.

“Kulintang.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 1 Feb. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kulintang.

“Laúd.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 14 Jan. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/La%C3%BAd.

“Manila Sound.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Jan. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manila_sound#Description.

“Music of the Philippines.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Jan. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_the_Philippines.

“Philippines.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 2 Feb. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippines.

“Rey Valera.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Dec. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rey_Valera.

“Rondalla.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Jan. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rondalla.