The babandil is a single, narrow-rimmed
Philippine
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
gong
A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...
[Benitez, Kristina. The Maguindanaon Kulintang: Musical Innovation, Transformation and the Concept of Binalig. Ann Harbor, MI: University of Michigan, 2005.]
used primarily as the “timekeeper” of the
Maguindanao
Maguindanao (, Maguindanaon: ''Prubinsya nu Magindanaw''; Iranun'': Perobinsia a Magindanao''; tl, Lalawigan ng Maguindanao) was a province of the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). From 2014 t ...
kulintang
Kulintang ( id, kolintang, ms, kulintangan)
is a modern term for an ancient instrumental form of music composed on a row of small, horizontally laid gongs that function melodically, accompanied by larger, suspended gongs and drums. As part of ...
ensemble.
Description
The babendil usually has a diameter of roughly one foot making it larger than the largest kulintang gong and comparable to the diameter of the
agung
The agung is a set of two wide-rimmed, vertically suspended gongs used by the Maguindanao, Maranao, Sama-Bajau and Tausug people of the Philippines as a supportive instrument in kulintang ensembles. The agung is also ubiquitous among other g ...
or
gandingan
The gandingan is a Philippine set of four large, hanging gongs used by the Maguindanao as part of their kulintang ensemble. When integrated into the ensemble, it functions as a secondary melodic instrument after the main melodic instrument, the ...
. However, unlike the gandingan or the agong, the babendil has a sunken boss which makes the boss relatively non-functional.
[Cadar, Usopay Hamdag (1971). The Maranao Kolintang Music: An Analysis of the Instruments, Musical Organization, Ethmologies, and Historical Documents. Seattle, WA: University of Washington.] Because of their sunken boss, babendils are instead struck either at the flange or the rim, using either bamboo betays or a strip of rattan, producing a sharp, distinctive metallic clang
[ and are sometimes considered “false gongs.” In fact, this distinction makes the babendil classified as a ]bell
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...
in the Hornbostel-Sachs classification (if it were struck at the boss, it would be considered a gong
A gongFrom Indonesian and ms, gong; jv, ꦒꦺꦴꦁ ; zh, c=鑼, p=luó; ja, , dora; km, គង ; th, ฆ้อง ; vi, cồng chiêng; as, কাঁহ is a percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia. Gongs ...
.)[
Babandils are normally made out of bronze but due to the scarcity of this metal in ]Mindanao
Mindanao ( ) ( Jawi: مينداناو) is the second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the island is part of an island group of t ...
, most gongs, including the babendil are made out of more common metal such as brass, iron and even tin-can.[
]
Technique
The babendil could be played while standing[ or when seated with the babendil hung half a foot from the floor.][ Proper technique requires the player to hold the babendil vertically, angled away from the body, with the gong held at the rim between their thumb and four fingers. With their thumb parallel to the rim of the gong, the players strikes the rim of the gong using their betay][ to play fundamental patterns that are similar to the drum pattern on the dabakan or the beat of the lower-pitched agung.][
]
Uses
The babendil traditionally could be played by either genders. In wooden kulintang ensembles, the kagul is usually substituted for the babendil part.[ Among the Tausug, the Samal and the Yakan, their babendil-type instrument generally has gone into disuse (Instead, tempo is kept in check using the highest gong on the kulintangan . Solembat is term used by the Samal for the ostinato beat while the Yakan call that same beat, nulanting.)][ while among the Tagbanwa, the babandil is used not only to keep the rhythm of pieces but also as a song accompaniment as well.]
Origins
The origins of the word "babendil" could either be traced from the Middle East or the Indian Subcontinent.[ Scholars suggest the name babendil is derived from the Arabic word, bandair, meaning, “circular-type, pan-Arabic, ]tambourine
The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called " zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thou ...
or frame drum
A frame drum is a drum that has a drumhead width greater than its depth. It is one of the most ancient musical instruments, and perhaps the first drum to be invented. It has a single drumhead that is usually made of rawhide, but man-made mat ...
.[Farmer, Herny G.. Historical Facts for the Arabian Musical Influence. London: William Reeves, 1930.]" Others suggests that since the babendil is closely related to the Javanese bebende or bende (a gong with similar characteristics and uses in the colotomic gamelan
Gamelan () ( jv, ꦒꦩꦼꦭꦤ꧀, su, ᮌᮙᮨᮜᮔ᮪, ban, ᬕᬫᭂᬮᬦ᭄) is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. ...
ensemble), it perhaps has relations with an ancient Indian kettle drum
Timpani (; ) or kettledrums (also informally called timps) are musical instruments in the percussion family. A type of drum categorised as a hemispherical drum, they consist of a membrane called a head stretched over a large bowl traditionall ...
, behri, where ancient Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominalization, nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cul ...
indicated the bende was the bronze equivalent of the behri.[McPhee, Colin. Music in Bali. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1996.]
Other derivative names
Also called: babendir, (Maguindanao
Maguindanao (, Maguindanaon: ''Prubinsya nu Magindanaw''; Iranun'': Perobinsia a Magindanao''; tl, Lalawigan ng Maguindanao) was a province of the Philippines located in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM). From 2014 t ...
) babndir (Maranao
The Maranao people (Maranao: mәranaw Filipino: ''Maranaw''), also spelled Meranao, Maranaw, and Mëranaw, is the term used by the Philippine government to refer to the southern indigenous people who are the "people of the lake", a predomi ...
), bandil, babandil, babindil, bapindil, (Other Southern Philippine Groups),[ babandir ( Tagbanwa, ]Batak
Batak is a collective term used to identify a number of closely related Austronesian ethnic groups predominantly found in North Sumatra, Indonesia, who speak Batak languages. The term is used to include the Karo, Pakpak, Simalungun, Toba, ...
, Palaw’an),[ banendir,] tungtung, ( Tausug), salimbal ( Samal) and the mapindil ( Yakan).[
]
References
{{Bells
Philippine musical instruments
Gongs
Bells (percussion)
Culture of Maguindanao
Asian percussion instruments
Philippine folk instruments