tags: philippines music instrument kulintang culture ensemble palabunibunyan
Palabunibunyan
Palabunibunyan is an instrumental ensemble originating from the [Maguindanaon] people in the [Mindanao] region of the [philippines].
The term "[kulintang]" refers to both the ensemble and the singular instrument. Palabunibunyan refers specifically to the ensemble. Palabunibunyan and "kulintang ensemble" will be used interchangeably here.
The instruments in palabunibunyan include:
Kulintang ensemble is common among the [mindanao] region of the [philippines]. With all instruments from the ensemble playing very fast and dense, it results in a beautiful rhythmic frenzy.
Beginning
There is a traditional method of beginning kulintang ensemble pieces:
- most of the time, the [babandir] or the [dabakan] starts the piece
- the [kulintang] usually enters next
- the [gandingan] and [agung] usually follow lastly
However, some performers may decide to highlight different instruments at the beginning instead.
- ex. Harold Andre starts with the kulintang and gandingan in his performance of [Sinulog a Bagu]
Improvisation
Each player plays and improvises over a [rhythmic mode] (such as [binalig]).
- ensemble members usually follow the kulintang and improvise rhythms and phrases that would compliment the kulintang player
- each players are expected to know the basic pattern by heart to be confident enough to tastefully improvise and play around
Ensemble members carefully listen to the kulintang as the kulintang player is responsible for signaling the ending
- the kulintang player could improvise endlessly, but as soon as the player signals the ending, everyone ends together
- there are different kinds of ending phrases
- the kulintang player can even "tease" the ending phrase as a musical joke and catch which member will be deceived
- this is perfectly acceptable and considered fun LOL
A "tight" ensemble knows how to react to each other's playing properly and accordingly.
- matching rhythm, dynamics, or anything else
- different groups have different playing styles