The paldong is a traditional
lip-valley flute of the
Kalinga tribes in the
Philippines
The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...
.
Design
It is an open, single end-blown flute. The lower end of the flute has three fingerholes.
The instrument is made from
bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of mostly evergreen perennial plant, perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily (biology), subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family, in th ...
with its upper edge cut away obliquely from the backside and slightly from the front-side. The paldong is open at both ends, with a total of four fingerholes: three in front, and one at the back. The player's lower lip is placed against the cut away surface.
Role
The paldong is used for serenades, courting women, for leisure and to pass the time. Melodies are mostly improvised. The song titles describe what the melody is trying to mimic, such as the chirping of a bird, the cry of an eagle, the buzz of a wasp, etc.
Instrument variations
The lip-valley flutes in the Philippines are known by different names: abalao, abellao, sinongyop (
Bontoc); balding, paldong, enoppok, innupok (Kalinga); tipano, kipano, paldeng (
Isneg); and taladi (
Ibaloi); palendag (
Maguindanao); palalu (
Mansaka); Palandag (
Bagobo). The lip-valley flutes from the Southern Philippines tend to be longer than those from the Northern Philippines.
See also
*
Palendag (a similar, less refined, end-blown bamboo flute)
*
Tumpong
*
Tongali (Philippine
nose flute)
*
Suling
*
Diwas
*
Gabbang
*
Bungkaka
*
Takumbo
*
Kolitong
References
*
{{reflist
External links
*De Jager, Fekke (2005-2011)
http://www.kipas.nl/Instruments/Paldong.htm "Kipas Gallery"]
"Lip valley Flutes , MusiKoleksyon"
End-blown flutes
Philippine musical instruments
Culture of Kalinga (province)
Bamboo musical instruments