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Gabbang is popular among the Samal people and has reached the farthest islands of Sulu. A miniature xylophone also called gabbang of the Yakan people of Basilan, has only 5 keys. The Tausug gabbang is an important instrument that accompanies secular songs for the entertainment of guests in weddings and anniversaries. The gabbang’s resonator is … Read more

The Kudlong is a two-stringed lute that is boat-shaped with wooden tightening rods and frets made of beeswax. One string plays a drone and the other string plays a melody. The body is also carved to represent a mythical animal with two heads of either the naga (or serpent) or crocodile or the sarimanok. Kudlong … Read more

Gangsa is a flat gong that is played in an ensemble of two or more gongs of varying sizes. In Kalinga, that gangsa is played in a group of six. Each player strikes the surface of the gong with a beater (pattung style) or with their bare palms (topayya style) in an interlocking way manners … Read more

Tambi This instrument is a whole node of bamboo. It has two strings cut free from the bamboo itself with rattan rings at the end to support it. The strings are lifted by small bamboo pegs A piece of bamboo or platform is placed in the middle to connect both strings. A hole is bore … Read more

Bodegon As we celebrate Filipino Food Month, the National Museum of the Philippines features one of the earliest paintings by a Filipina artist to be included in the National Fine Arts Collection. Completed in 1912, and registered as a public collection in 1949, Celedonia Ongpin’s Bodegon was done when she was 16 years old—quite a … Read more