![Lute (kutyapi), Mindanao, wood, Honolulu Museum of Art](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Lute_%28kutyapi%29%2C_Mindanao%2C_wood%2C_Honolulu_Museum_of_Art.jpg)
The kutiyapi, or kudyapi, is a
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 ...
two-stringed, fretted boat-
lute
A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted.
More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...
. It is four to six feet long with nine
fret
A fret is any of the thin strips of material, usually metal wire, inserted laterally at specific positions along the neck or fretboard of a stringed instrument. Frets usually extend across the full width of the neck. On some historical instrume ...
s made of hardened
beeswax
Beeswax (''cera alba'') is a natural wax produced by honey bees of the genus ''Apis''. The wax is formed into scales by eight wax-producing glands in the abdominal segments of worker bees, which discard it in or at the hive. The hive workers ...
. The instrument is carved out of solid soft wood such as that from the
jackfruit
The jackfruit (''Artocarpus heterophyllus''), also known as jack tree, is a species of tree in the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family (Moraceae). Its origin is in the region between the Western Ghats of southern India, all of Bangladesh, ...
tree.
Common to all kudyapi instruments, a constant
drone
Drone most commonly refers to:
* Drone (bee), a male bee, from an unfertilized egg
* Unmanned aerial vehicle
* Unmanned surface vehicle, watercraft
* Unmanned underwater vehicle or underwater drone
Drone, drones or The Drones may also refer to:
...
is played with one string while the other, an octave above the drone, plays the melody with a ''kabit'' or rattan pluck (commonly made from plastic nowadays). This feature, which is also common to other related
Southeast Asian
Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical south-eastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of mainland ...
"boat lutes", also known as "crocodile lutes", which are native to the region.
It is the only stringed instrument among the
Palawano people, and one of several among other groups such as the
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 predomin ...
and
Manobo
The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous people in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad (Literally: "indigenous people"), the autonym officially adopte ...
.
Regional names
In various Philippine languages, the instrument is also called: Kutyapi, Kutiapi (
Maguindanao
Maguindanao (, Maguindanao language, Maguindanaon: ''Prubinsya nu Magindanaw''; Iranun language, Iranun'': Perobinsia a Magindanao''; tl, Lalawigan ng Maguindanao) was a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the ...
n), Kotyapi (
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 predomin ...
), Kotapi (
Subanon), Fegereng (
Tiruray), Faglong, Fuglung (
B'laan
The Blaan people, are one of the indigenous peoples of Southern Mindanao in the Philippines. Their name could have derived from "bla" meaning "opponent" and the suffix "an" meaning "people". According to a 2021 genetic study, the Blaan people als ...
), Kudyapi (
Bukidnon
Bukidnon(), officially the Province of Bukidnon ( ceb, Lalawigan sa Bukidnon; fil, Lalawigan ng Bukidnon; hil, Kapuroan sang Bukidnon; Binukid and Higaonon: ''Probinsya ta Bukidnon''), is a landlocked province in the Philippines located in the ...
and
Tagbanwa), Hegelong (
T’boli
The Tboli people () are one of the indigenous peoples of South Cotabato in southern Mindanao. In the body of ethnographic and linguistic literature on Mindanao, their name is variously spelt Tboli, T'boli, Tböli, Tagabili, Tagabilil, Tagabulul ...
) and Kuglong, Kadlong, Kudlong or Kudlung (
Manobo
The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous people in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad (Literally: "indigenous people"), the autonym officially adopte ...
,
Mansaka
The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous people in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad (Literally: "indigenous people"), the autonym officially adopte ...
,
Mandaya
The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous people in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad (Literally: "indigenous people"), the autonym officially adopte ...
,
Bagobo
The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous people in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad (Literally: "indigenous people"), the autonym officially adopte ...
and Central
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 ...
), and Kusyapi (
Palawan
Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in ...
)
In Palawan
For the Palawano, it is possible to arrange the beeswax frets into different patterns resulting in two different scales for the instrument. These are the ''binalig'', a higher pitched scale similar to the
pelog
Pelog ( su, ᮕᮦᮜᮧᮌ᮪, translit=Pélog /pelog/, jv, ꦥꦺꦭꦺꦴꦒ꧀, ban, ᬧᬾᬮᭀᬕ᭄, translit=Pélog /pelok/) is one of the essential tuning systems used in gamelan instruments that has heptatonic scale. The other, ...
and accompanying style used to imitate that of the
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 ...
, and the ''dinaladay'', a lower pentatonic scale used for teaching pieces of an abstract nature.
In ''dinaladay'', several tiers of difficulty revolve around main compositions: ''Patentek'', ''Patundug'', ''Banutun'' and ''Minudel''; ''Patentek'' being the most straightforward, ''Minudel'' being the most-challenging.
''Binalig'' scale pieces include several archaic compositions now not played on the
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 ...
, and of these pieces ''Malapankuno'' (cock crowing) and ''Mapalendad'' are included.
Any piece with ''a kinukulintangan'' affixed to its name is one that imitates the style of the kulintang instrument, of which the ''Sinulog a kinukulintangan''; a piece that embellishes the main melody of the kulintang's ''Sinulog a kangungudan'', is the most popular.
The Kutiyapi may or may not be accompanied by one of several types of flutes; the ''
palendag
The palendag, also called Pulalu (Manobo and Mansaka), Palandag (Bagobo), Pulala (Bukidnon) and Lumundeg ( Banuwaen) is a type of Philippine bamboo flute, the largest one used by the Maguindanaon, a smaller type of this instrument is called the Hu ...
'', ''
suling
The suling or seruling (Sundanese: ) is a musical instrument of the Sundanese people in western Java, Indonesia. It is used in the Degung ensemble. Bamboo ring flute can also be found in Southeast Asian, especially in Brunei, Indonesia, Mala ...
'', ''
insi'' or ''
tumpong
The tumpong (also inci among the Maranao) is a type of Philippine bamboo flute used by the Maguindanaon, half the size of the largest bamboo flute, the palendag. A lip-valley flute
The end-blown flute (also called an edge-blown flute or rim-bl ...
''. Singing is usually reserved for courtship purposes.
Among the Bangsamoro peoples
Maranao
Among the Maranao, pieces played by using ''bagu'' and ''andung'' scales (equivalents of the ''binalig'' and ''dinaladay'' scales used by the Maguindanao), and in contrast to Maguindanao pieces, the kutiyapi is also used as an accompanying instrument to ''bayoka'' or epic chants. Examples of older ''andung'' pieces include ''Kangganatan'' and ''Mamayog Akun''.
The Kudyapi (kotyapi) has also been as one of the instruments in several older light ensembles, including that of the ''kasayao-sa-singkil/kasingkil'' ensemble, the original musical accompaniment to the
singkil
Singkíl (or Sayaw sa Kasingkil) is a folk dance of the Maranao people of Lake Lanao depicting one of the episodes in the Philippine epic poetry, epic poem ''Darangen'', which was popularised by the Bayanihan Philippine National Folk Dance Compa ...
dance (now rarely used in favour of conventional
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 ...
ensembles). This ensemble pairs the kotyapi with a jaw harp (
kubing
The kubing is a type of Philippine jaw harp from bamboo found among the Maguindanaon and other Muslim and non-Muslim tribes in the Philippines and Indonesia. It is also called kobing (Maranao), kolibau ( Tingguian), aru-ding ( Tagbanwa), kuribaw ...
),
suling
The suling or seruling (Sundanese: ) is a musical instrument of the Sundanese people in western Java, Indonesia. It is used in the Degung ensemble. Bamboo ring flute can also be found in Southeast Asian, especially in Brunei, Indonesia, Mala ...
, a pair of small double-headed drums known as ''
gandangan'' (a drum now rarely used among the Maranao in favor of the single-headed
dadabuan) and a single
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 ...
, in accompaniment to the bamboo poles used in the dance.
Another archaic ensemble where the kotyapi was included was the ''
Kapanirong
In Filipino music, the kapanirong is a serenade (from the root word sirong which means "to go beside a house") by a group of young bachelors who would go to a maiden's house and play their music by the window. The house occupants would then inv ...
'', or courtship ensemble, in which the kotyapi was used with a
kubing
The kubing is a type of Philippine jaw harp from bamboo found among the Maguindanaon and other Muslim and non-Muslim tribes in the Philippines and Indonesia. It is also called kobing (Maranao), kolibau ( Tingguian), aru-ding ( Tagbanwa), kuribaw ...
, small ''
insi'' flute, a two-stringed bamboo zither ''serongagandi'', and a brass-tray ''tintik''.
Dayunday performances
Among both the Maguindanao and Maranao, a much more recent informal styles are also used. ''Dayunday'' is a performed in front of an audience using an improvisational vocal style based on both ''sangel sa wata'' (traditional lullaby) and ''bayok'' (epic chant sung in
a cappella
''A cappella'' (, also , ; ) music is a performance by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment, or a piece intended to be performed in this way. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Ren ...
) genres, played in either ''binalig'' or ''dinaladay'' scales, that is used during weddings, election campaigns, religious celebrations such as
Eid or other large gatherings. The ''dayunday'' generally sets well known musicians from both genders against each other in verbal jest and competition.
With the advent of globalization, the importance of the kutiyapi has waned as artists have taken up the
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...
instead, as it is louder.
Among Lumad groups
![Kaamulan Festival 2016 - 26167600132](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b8/Kaamulan_Festival_2016_-_26167600132.jpg)
Among the
T'Boli
The Tboli people () are one of the indigenous peoples of South Cotabato in southern Mindanao. In the body of ethnographic and linguistic literature on Mindanao, their name is variously spelt Tboli, T'boli, Tböli, Tagabili, Tagabilil, Tagabulul ...
,
Manobo
The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous people in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad (Literally: "indigenous people"), the autonym officially adopte ...
and other
Lumad
The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous people in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad (Literally: "indigenous people"), the autonym officially adopte ...
groups, the instrument (known as ''Hegelung'', ''Kudyapi'' or ''Fedlung'') is tuned to a major pentatonic scale. Among groups like the
Bagobo
The Lumad are a group of Austronesian indigenous people in the southern Philippines. It is a Cebuano term meaning "native" or "indigenous". The term is short for Katawhang Lumad (Literally: "indigenous people"), the autonym officially adopte ...
, the Kutiyapi (''Kudlung'') is also used as a bowed instrument and is generally played to accompany improvised songs.
A characteristic difference between Mindanaon
Moro Kutiyapi and the non-Islamized Lumad equivalents is the style and set up of vocal accompaniment. Among the ''Lumad'' groups, the kudyapi player and vocalist are separate performers, and vocalists use a free-flowing method of singing on top of the rhythm of the instrument, whereas among the Maguindanao and Maranao, there are set rhythms are phrases connected with the melody of the kutiyapi, with the player doubling as the vocalist (bayoka), if need be.
In the Visayas
The kudyapi has been found among groups such as the Bisayans whose prevalence just like the kubing and other musical instruments are and/or were found in other parts of the Philippines. "The ''kudyapi'' was a kind of small lute carved out of a single piece of wood with a belly of a half a coconut shell added for resonance, with two or three wire strings plucked with a quill plectrum, and three or four frets, often of metal. The body was called ''sungar-sungar'' or ''burbuwaya''; the neck,''burubunkun''; the strings, ''dulos''; the fretboard, ''pidya''; and the tuning pegs, ''birik-birik''. The scroll was called ''apil-apil'' or ''sayong'', the same as the hornlike protrusions at the ends of the ridgepole of a house. The ''kudyapi'' was only played by men, mainly to accompany their own love songs. The female equivalent was the ''korlong'', a kind of zither made of a single node of bamboo with strings cut from the skin of the bamboo itself, each raised and tuned on two little bridges, and played with both hands like a harp. A variant form had a row of thinner canes with a string cut from each one.” – William Henry Scott
The Tagalog Kutyapi
While kutyapi was already a forgotten instrument among
Tagalogs
The Tagalog people ( tl, Mga Tagalog; Baybayin: ᜋᜅ ᜆᜄᜎᜓᜄ᜔) are the largest ethnolinguistic group in the Philippines, numbering at around 30 million. An Austronesian people, the Tagalog have a well developed society due to their ...
, with traces only remaining in folk songs like ''Sa Libis ng Nayon'', a stringed instrument was historically used by Tagalogs as mentioned in the
Jesuit
, image = Ihs-logo.svg
, image_size = 175px
, caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits
, abbreviation = SJ
, nickname = Jesuits
, formation =
, founders ...
friar
Pedro Chirino Pedro Chirino (1557 – 16 September 1635) was a Spanish priest and historian who served as a Jesuit missionary in the Philippines. He is most remembered for his work, ''Relación de las Islas Filipinas'' (1604), one of the earliest works about the ...
's ''Relacion de las Islas Filipinas'' (1604) which is called ''kutyapi''. Unlike its southern counterparts, the Tagalog kutyapi was a 4-stringed instrument. According to Chirino:
”They he Tagalogs
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (pronoun), an English pronoun
* He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ
* He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets
* He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' in ...
are punctiliously courteous and affectionate in social intercourse and are fond of writing to one another with the utmost propriety and most delicate refinement. Consequently they are much given to serenading. And although their guitar, which they call ''cutyapi'', is not very ingenious, nor the music very refined, it is quite pleasing, and especially to them. They play it with so much skill and ardor that they make its four wire strings speak. It is a generally accepted fact over there that by merely playing them, without saying a word, they can express and understand whatever they please, which is something that cannot be said of any other nation. The Bisayans are more artless...”
Subsequent records by Spanish friars
Diego de Bobadilla
Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''.
E ...
, S.J. (1590-1648) and
Francisco Colin
Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''.
Nicknames
In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...
, S.J. who were both in the Philippines during the first half of 17th Century, echoed the same thing in their writings when describing the instrument and its use by Tagalogs, but unlike the first two, Colin only mentioned the instrument having "two or more strings", not explicitly four. The instrument's spelling has varied among the different dictionaries and records made by Spaniards, with Chirino originally using the term ''culyapi'', de Bobadilla's ''cutiape'', and finally in
Vocabulario de la Lengua Tagala
''Vocabulario de la lengua tagala'' () was the first dictionary of the Tagalog language in the Philippines, It was written by the Franciscan friar Pedro de San Buena Ventura and published in Pila, Laguna in 1613. Juan de Plasencia had written a vo ...
where it's variably written as ''coryapi'' and ''codyapi''.
Pedro de San Buenaventura
''Vocabulario de la lengua tagala'' () was the first dictionary of the Tagalog language in the Philippines, It was written by the Franciscan friar Pedro de San Buena Ventura and published in Pila, Laguna in 1613. Juan de Plasencia had written a vo ...
's ''Vocabulario'' compared the instrument to both viola and guitar.
Francisco de San Antonio
Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''.
Nicknames
In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco (name), Paco". Francis of Assisi, San Francisco de Asís was known as '' ...
who came to
Pila, Laguna
Pila, officially the Municipality of Pila ( tgl, Bayan ng Pila), is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Laguna, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 54,613 people.
Pila is a third class municipality in the ...
in 1624 also equated kutyapi to
rabel, writing "''Rabel de los naturales'' (rabel of the natives)".
It was never known when did the instrument finally faded into history, as most dictionaries until the 20th century still has entries of ''coryapi/codyapi''.
Similar Southeast Asian instruments
Similar instruments played throughout the region include the
Sape of
Sarawak
Sarawak (; ) is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia. The largest among the 13 states, with an area almost equal to that of Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak is located in northwest Borneo Island, and is bordered by the M ...
and the Crocodile lutes of Mainland Southeast Asia. Although they share a similar name, the
Kacapi
The kacapi ( su, ᮊᮎᮕᮤ) is a traditional zither of Sundanese people in Indonesia. This musical instrument is similiar to Chinese , Japanese ''koto'', the Mongolian , the Korean , the Vietnamese and the Kazakh jetigen
The jetigen ( kk ...
of
Sunda Sunda may refer to:
Europe
* Sunda, Faroe Islands
India
* Sunda (asura), an asura brother of Upasunda
* Sunda (clan), a clan (gotra) of Jats in Haryana and Rajasthan, India
Southeast Asia
* Sundanese (disambiguation)
** Sundanese people ...
on
Java
Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...
is a zither, and not a lute.
See also
*
Lute
A lute ( or ) is any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back enclosing a hollow cavity, usually with a sound hole or opening in the body. It may be either fretted or unfretted.
More specifically, the term "lute" can ref ...
*
String instrument
String instruments, stringed instruments, or chordophones are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer plays or sounds the strings in some manner.
Musicians play some string instruments by plucking the ...
*
List of string instruments
This is a list of string instruments.
Bowed
* Agiarut (Alaska)
* Ainu fiddle (Ainu)
* Ajaeng (Korea)
* Alexander violin (United States)
* Anzad
* apache fiddle (Apache)
* Apkhyarta (Abkhazia)
* Arpeggione
* Banhu (China)
* Baryton
* Baz ...
References
{{Authority control
Philippine musical instruments
Necked lutes
String instruments
Culture of Maguindanao
Culture of Lanao del Sur