Draft:Maranao kolintang

One of the distinct regional forms in Philippine gong-chime music is the Maranao kolintang ensemble. There are at 10 different kolintang ensembles listed in the New Grove Dictionary of Musical Instruments for the Philippines, Indonesia and elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Each is important to the culture to which it belongs, and the ensembles have their own particular combination of melodic instruments, percussion "timbres" and suspended gongs.

History
Bossed gong ensembles were probably first created in Java, eventually spreading to the rest of insular Southeast Asia through trade during the 15th century. In the precolonial era, these gongs constituted one of three types of heirlooms, along with goldwork and porcelain, of the coastal lowland royalties of the Philippine archipelago. The kulintang ensemble itself may have origins in Sundanese kolenang, migrating its way either northward through Sulawesi, Borneo, then Sulu, or eastward to Timor and Maluku before reaching northward to Mindanao.

During the 1950s, Maguindanaon merchants began selling many galang-type kulintang to Maranao antique trade dealers, thus today most galang are now owned my Maranao while the inubad ensembles remain prevalent among Maguindanaons.

Within Maranao society, kolintang gong kettles were traditionally cast in the cire perdue method in Tugaya while agongs were imported from Borneo.

Tuning
Maranao kolintang traditionally has no standardized tuning, with each individual set unique to a player's taste. Despite this, a consistent pattern of tuning intervals between sets in one study finds that most are partial towards a pelog scale.

Genres
Informal classification of three types of genres and partial list of examples:

Song-based
Compositions derived from songs. The descriptions explain the respective lyrics.


 * Kaseladung - a deer (seladung) escaping a burning forest
 * Kapmamayug - from the song Mamayug Ugarinan about a jealous woman, Ugarianah, suspecting her lover, Mamayug, having an affair
 * Katuronan - a friend named Turonan invited to a kalilang to play the kolintang
 * Kanditagaona - a woman reminding her lover, Ditagaonan, of their relationship
 * Kambongbong - lullaby with onomatopoetic text
 * Kapupanok - a bird (pupanok) associated with a lover
 * Kasirong - satire of a rich family (alluded as a sirong, or shelter like a big tree) preying on the poor
 * Kandayodayo - a distant friend (dayo)
 * Kasulutan - about a particular sultan seeking a government job in Manila
 * Kalabolabo - the unusual shape of a praying mantis (labolabo), including nonsense syllables
 * Kapagilala - a song asking the people in good health to carry Islamic duties
 * Kaplaboai - two warring villages raiding each other

Abstract

 * Kapagunor - one of two pieces for showy performance, other being kapromayas
 * Kapromayas - from the town of Rumayas, where it originated
 * Kasinulog - from the Tausug of Sulu
 * Kasamasamas - from the Sama-Bajau of Sulu
 * Kapmagarib - from magarib (sunset)
 * Katitik pandai or Inandang - based on a story of an insomniac woman who tries to wake her neighbors to notify them of her situation by playing the kolintang
 * Kasinirigan - where a player holds up a gong to play and dance (from irig, to take up and wonder)
 * Kasagurongan - where the higher pitches are played loudly while the lower pitches softly, accompanied by the rest of the ensemble

Imitations of sounds or effects

 * Kambibi tearai kakowak - crow calls
 * Kanginawe-i - night insect sounds
 * Katoga a malitubug - waterfall sounds
 * Kandungkudungku - waves
 * Kambarorao - Barorao locals’ accent
 * Katugongko - tagongko rhythm
 * Kaprebugar - feeling of strife between agong players

Kalilang
Kolintang performances are regularly accompanied in a kalilang, any sizable gathering for a festive occasion which typically employs musical performances in general. Traditionally, there were two distinct kinds of kalilang which employs the kolintang: the formal kapmasaala ko limakadaradiat and the informal kappakaradiaan.

Kapmasaala ko limakadaradiat (formal gatherings)
Weddings

Returning haji

Transfer of the Sultan's throne

Kappakaradiaan (informal gatherings)
Playing is prohibited during harvests, Ramadan, and during the mourning period of the death of important people.