Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Traditional tribal music
Folk songs
and stories, handed down orally, are still sung at tribal gatherings and
ceremonies among indigenous peoples. Among the ethnic and tribal groups of
Mindanao and the Sulu archipelago there's a sophisticated musical genre called
kulintang
, in which the main instruments are bossed gongs similar to the Indonesian
gamelan.
Kulintang
is commonly performed by small ensembles playing instruments
that include the
kulintang
itself (a series of small gongs for the melody), the
agung
(large gongs for the lower tones) and the
gandingan
(four large vertical gongs used as a
secondary melodic instrument).
Kulintang
music serves as a means of entertainment
and a demonstration of hospitality; it's used at weddings, festivals, coronations, to
entertain visiting dignitaries and to honour those heading off on or coming back from
a pilgrimage. It is also used to accompany healing ceremonies and, up to the beginning
of the twentieth century, was a form of communication, using goatskin drums to beat
messages across the valleys.
The Manila Sound
he “
Manila Sound
” was the sound of the 1970s in the Philippines. Against a backdrop
of student riots and martial law, some audiences found comfort with bell-bottom-
wearing bands, like
The Hotdogs
and
The Boyfriends
, who set romantic novelty lyrics to
catchy melodic hooks. Some sneered at the frivolity of it all, but the Manila Sound was
as big as disco. Today it's effectively extinct, but it gave rise to a number of major stars
who evolved and are still going strong. The most well known is indefatigable diva
Sharon Cuneta
, who is known throughout the country by the modest moniker “The
Megastar”. She first appeared in the Philippine pop charts at the age of 12 singing the
disco tune
Mr. D.J.
and has since released numerous albums including one of duets
with other apparently ageless Filipina singers such as Pops Fernandez (the “Concert
Queen”) and Sunshine Cruz.
The folkies
In the 1970s the only truly original artists performing in Manila were folksy beatniks
such as singer-songwriters
Joey Ayala
and
Freddie Aguilar
. In the 1980s, Aguilar wrote
a popular ballad called “
Anak
” and found himself a fan in First Lady Imelda Marcos
who, ever eager to bathe herself in the reflected glory of Manila's celebs, invited him to
Malacañang Palace so they could sing the song together at banquets. Aguilar was
appalled by the excesses he saw inside the palace and never went back.
As the anti-Marcos movement grew, so did the popularity of “
Anak
”. Aguilar, by now
something of a talisman for left-wing groups opposing martial law, took the opportunity
to become even more political, recording a heartfelt version of “
Bayan Ko
” (“My
Country”), a patriotic anthem that now took on extraordinary political significance.
One of the most well-known groups of the new generation was
APO Hiking Society
,
a foursome from Ateneo University whose anthem “
Handog ng Pilipino sa Mundo
”
(“A New And Better Way”) has been covered by numerous Filipino artists. Its lyrics are
carved on the wall of Manila's Our Lady of EDSA Shrine, traditionally a focal point of
protests and revolutions.
Tribal-pop and OPM (Original Pilipino Music)
In the 1990s - largely as a reaction to the decline of the protest movement and the
creeping Americanization of Filipino music - a roots movement emerged that took the
traditional rhythms and chants of tribal music such as
kulintang
and merged them with
contemporary instruments and production techniques. One of the chief exponents of
so-called tribal-pop (the term
Original Pilipino Music
or Original Pinoy Music was
coined in the late 1980s) was
Grace Nono
. She never quite cracked the big time, but
cleared the path for others, including
Pinikpikan
, the most successful tribal-pop band
in the country (the band reformed as
Kalayo
in 2007). Over the last few years the term
