FROM GABBANG TO GABANG: THE DIFFUSION AND TRANSFORMATION OF A PHILIPPINE XYLOPHONE AMONG INDIGENOUS PAITANIC COMMUNITIES OF SABAH, MALAYSIA

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Jacqueline Pugh- Kitingan

Abstract

Musical instruments are objects of material culture and, as sound producers used to create music, are also part of the intangible cultural heritage of communities.  Some instruments are local inventions, while others have been diffused into indigenous cultures through outside contacts.  During the process of diffusion, instruments may undergo structural transformations due to the use of local materials.  Terms used for the parts of the diffused instrument and also the music played may also change over time in accordance with local aesthetics and contexts.  The focus of this article is the diffusion and transformation of the nibung palmwood or bamboo keyed gabbang xylophone of the Sama’ Bajau and Suluk communities along the east coast of Sabah, the east Malaysian state on northern Borneo, into the wooden gabang of the indigenous Makiang people of the Upper Kinabatangan River.  The gabbang originated from Bajau and Suluk (Taosug) cultures in the southern Philippines. The discussion here compares and contrasts the structure, nomenclature and performance technique of the Makiang gabang with the gabbang to identify the physical transformation that the instrument has undergone.  It also examines the gabang repertoire and discusses a musical example to show how this transformed xylophone has been utlised to produce music according to Makiang contexts and practices.  This illustrates how ideas and objects can cross cultural borders to eventually develop into traditions in the receiving culture.


 


Keywords:  gabbang, gabang, idiophones, xylophone music, Makiang, Paitanic peoples, Sabah

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