SIL Philippines

Mangali and Tanudan valley music

“Mangali” is the designation for the cluster of eight villages in the lower Tanudan valley, Kalinga province, the people of whom consider themselves to be a single culture group.

From 2003-2006 SIL ethnomusicologist Glenn Stallsmith researched the music and dance of the Mangali people. Most of the research was conducted in the Mangali village of Guilguila. Other groups in Tanudan lie upriver—Lubu and Dacalan—and downriver—Taloctoc. Recordings from places outside Mangali are noted below.

This webpage is divided into three parts:

  1. Vocal Songs
  2. Bamboo Instruments
  3. Gongs/Dances

Vocal Songs

Goygoy is a kind of lullaby, often sung while rocking the child in the singer’s arms or on the legs.

Dandan-ag are often sung at funerals, with groups collaborating to create extemporaneous lyrics of two 7-syllable lines. This example was sung at the funeral of Pedro Amangao. Each sitio in Mangali entered a contest for the best dandan-ag. This example from the village of Anggacan won the contest. (Dandan-agsongs have also been used to match available single men with single women.)

S-kml-006.vob: ~4:00-6:40

Minangali

English translation

Dongngonyu dandan-agni
Tulakuk di pangati

Inamman as Amangao
Intalayna daydayaw
Atte ili’d Bulanao

Dika umoy an-onaw
Te’nan ganggangputoni algaw

Pogsatom de ullatoy
Banta agayada matoy
 
Hear our dandan-ag
It’s like the crow of a bait rooster

It’s too bad for Amangao
That he took away the glory to Bulanao


Don’t come (dead spirit) and make disturbance
Because we are here to complete your death

Going to seat, singing: Break the passage-way
So that there will be no more death
-or so that the people will stop dying

Dinnayan is a song sung be victorious warriors, after a battle.

Minangali English translation
Dinnayan Dininnayan
Ossoy diway ooma
Annan umoy lumomdaw  
Da malikanon pukaw
Si ilini ad sakbaw
We are singing Dinnayan
Second line: vocables
Here comes someone to take a view
The white Americans
In our village sakbaw*

*Sakbaw is a nickname for Bawak, meaning "on top".

Ballogay is sung on joyful occasions to recall good memories from the past. This song style is usually sung back and forth between two groups of women singers.

Ullalim is a renown song style of the Kalinga, traditionally sung to recount long, epic stories about traditional heroes (like Banna) and villains. The ullalim can also be used to describe other events or even to give advice.

 – Florensio Agyao in Bail.

Ugayam may not be a song style indigenous to the Kalinga, but it is sung in group gatherings such as weddings and peace-pact celebrations.

 – Basitao from Bawak singing

Tug-om is sung by women while pounding rice or coffee.

Video: Last two minutes of s-kml-022a.vob

Audio:

Bannay in Anggacan?

Suggiyaw is a harvest song, often sung in the rice field after a day’s work of cutting and hauling in the ripe grain.

MD4.3 by Edwin, Sabas, Basitao in Bawak

Minangali English translation
Suggiyaw miballayaw Suggiyaw that will be carried in the air
Insap-uydad lamoyaw It will be blown somewhere
Gindong adita matoy How good if we will not die
Kanakanantas naoy We have fun like this
Katula da liwaga How memorable are the girlfriends
Dolagku we ambasa* The one who sat beside me while studying
Katulas kataltalpung How memorable are the ones we have fellowship with
Talangatag ad mapatung The bank of mapatung

Dagdag-ay is a solo song, sung only by men, usually during a resting time from work or travel. The lyrics often recall good times of the past.

 by Florencio in Bail   by Alfonso Banganan in Ullaga

Palpaliwat is form of verbal sparring, paring one man against another. The two performers take turns describing their exploits in war, hunting, or other accomplishments.

 Tumulnok in Bail

Bamboo Instruments

3 long videos showing the making of bamboo instruments

  • Making the tungngop (struck two-stick chordophone), balengbeng (vibrating idiophone), saggay-op (end-blown flute), tungngatung (struck tube idiophones).
    S-kml-014.vob
  • Making the balengbengtungali (nose-blown flute), kulitong (plucked chordophone), dungadung (struck idiophone), kulibaw (jews harp), tungngopbaladong (lip-valley flute)
    S-kml-015.vob & S-kml-022b.vob

Gongs/Dances

Tadok:

  • s-kml-007.vob Clip 1: ~19:00-21:30 & Clip 2: ~27:30-30:30

    The gangsa are the only non-bamboo instruments in Mangali. Each gong has a handle tied to a string, which is knotted through two holes in the rim of the instrument. In these clips this circular, flat, rimmed idiophone is played in the tadok style, which is marked by the way the gong is sounded through beating it with a stick while holding it by the handle. Tadok is performed while dancing and playing simultaneously. The Mangali tadok rhythm is the result of three simultaneous rhythmic patterns: tokkotoktabbeleng, andsapul. The dance steps performed by the women are called sagni.

  • Clip 3: s-kml-009.vob ~42:00-53:00

    This presentation of tadok was performed during an inter-village competition, in which the competing groups were judged on costume, innovative use of the resulting gong melodies, and choreography.

  • Tuppayyas-kml-020.vob (00:00-02:40)

    The gangsa are also played in the tuppayya style, using a six-gong set known as a pinakid. Six performes will sit or kneel on the ground, attaching the gangsa handle to their belts. The instrument lays flat on their laps and is struck with open palms. The rhythms that resulted were a combination of slaps and slides with the right and left hands. The six simultaneous rhythmic parts are called: taggatag, kaguwa, katlu, kapat, upup, and bengbeng. The resultant melodic and rhythmic patterns of the tuppayya style form a foundation for other rhythms played on some of the bamboo instruments, such as the tungatung shown below.

  • Tungatungs-kml-021.vob ~43:30-55:00

Notes:
In the years 2003-2006 SIL ethnomusicologist Glenn Stallsmith researched the music and dance of the Mangali people of the Tanudan River valley in Kalinga province. Some of Glenn’s theories about Mangali music and its role in peace-pacts, language, and place-making were developed in the following publications:

  • “Creating Places Through the Soundscape: A Kalinga Peace Pact Celebration” in Austronesian Soundscapes: Performing Arts in Oceania and Southeast Asia, ed. Birgit Abels. Available on Amazon.com
  • The Music of a Kalinga Peace-Pact Celebration: Making Place Through the Soundscape. Unpublished Master’s Thesis with Bethel University, St. Paul, Minnesota.
  • “The aN- Agent Focus Affix in Minangali Music Terms”. Co-authored with Glenn Machlan. Unpublished paper presented at the Tenth International Conference on Austronesian Linguistics.

This web page showcases samples of the recordings made in the Tanudan valley during Glenn’s research period. Extended recordings and their supporting documentation have been deposited at the SIL Archive in Quezon City. These samples are presented with permissions from the performers or their nearest living relatives.