INSTRUMENTS
GONG
The most common instrument throughout Borneo.
There is a gong ensemble which consists of 6 gongs in the Penampang area where the Kadazans call it ‘sompogogungan’.
INSTRUMENTS
TONGKIBONG
This instrument is popular among the Kadazandusuns from the Tambunan area. Tongkibong is usually played alone for self-entertainment. The melody of the Tongkibong resembles the beat of a gong.
TONGKIBONG
​HOW TO PLAY :
The right hand with beats the string with a small bamboo to produce sound
While the left hand covers and uncovers an opening at the end of the bamboo
INSTRUMENTS
KULINTANGAN
An idiophone compromising of six to nine brass kettles gongs with different pitches arranged on a low wooden. It was believed that the instrument was introduced to west Sabah by the ruling Bruneis around 4 hundred years ago.
INSTRUMENTS
SULING
This instrument is played by all of the ethnics in Sabah normally for self-entertainment. The melodious tone is often heard during the night after the villagers came back from the field
SULING
HOW TO PLAY:
Fingers of right-hand cover and uncover two/three holes to produce different sound
The flute is blown at the main hole located at the end of the bamboo
Fingers of left/hand cover and uncover the other two/three holes to produce different sound
INSTRUMENTS
TURALI
The flute blown by the nose release a melodical tone and the tone can imitates various song. This instrument is also played for self-entertainment. Among the Kadazandusun from Tambunan dan Penampang, the sound of Turali expresses the feeling of sadness when a person passes away
TURALI
HOW TO PLAY :
Fingers of right-hand cover and uncover the two holes in the front to make sound
Nose flute is blown at the main hole located at the end of the bamboo
Thumb of left hand covers and uncovers a hole at the back. The other three fingers cover and uncover the three holes in the centre of the bamboo to produce different sound
INSTRUMENTS
BUNGKAU
The Bungkau is a lamellophone which is also known as Jaw’s harp, one of oldest instruments in the world. It is made from the outer skin of a palm known as polod among the Kadazandusuns. A skillful hand is needed to craft a good one.
BUNGKAU
HOW TO PLAY :
Bungkau is held to the player’s lips, their half-open mouth provides the body of resonance. The strip of wood in the centre of the instrument vibrates rhythmically striking the long end with the tumb, while the player inhales and exhales, it magnifies the melodic sound of the fine strip. A numbered amount of notes can be obtained by varying the shape of the mouth and the position of the tongue.
BUNGKAU
When not in use, the Bungkau is encased in an attached bamboo cylinder to keep it clean and free from damage
INSTRUMENTS
Sompoton is an aerophone and maybe the most fascinating mouth organ out of all the Sabahan native musical instruments.
SOMPOTON
It is constructed from a dried gourd and eight bamboo pipes arranged in a double-layered raft.
A small lamella polod palm is inserted in the side of each sounding pipe near its base. The pipes are fitted into a hole on one side of the gourd and is sealed with bees wax.
SOMPOTON
The lamella inside the gourd provides the sound of the completed instrument.
The pipes are bound with thin rattan strands, whereby one of the pipes has no sound. It is merely there to balance the bundle.
SOMPOTON
The player can produce a soft-sweet harmonious and continuous sound by blowing and sucking the gourd’s mouth. To play one, the player covers and uncovers the ends of three of the four shortest pipes with three fingers of their right hand and three small openings cut in the base of the front shortest pipe and front and back pipes of the longer raft with fingers on the left hand.
SOMPOTON
The sompoton can be played as a solo instrument for personal entertainment or in groups to accompany dancing. It is popular among the Kadazandusun, but variations of the sompoton can be found almost everywhere in Borneo, and other parts of South-East Asia.
INSTRUMENTS
INSTRUMENTS
GABANG
This instrument consists of 9 wood pieces. Each wood piece makes different sound when played. The pieces is placed start from the note ‘do’(smallest piece)
INSTRUMENTS
GENDANG
Gendang are membranophones which is also called as native drums. It can be single headed like the Karatung from Tambunan and Rungus Tontog or double headed like gandang from Penampang.
INSTRUMENTS
TONGKUNGON
Tongkungon or tongkongan is a chordophone made entirely out of one large section of poring bamboo. One node at one end is perforated, while the other left is intact. There is a slit on the entire length of the bamboo section, and either side strips of the skin of the bamboo are carefully undercut to make cords.
TONGKUNGON
Professional players who make their own tongkungan may opt up to 15 strings, but usually there are four to eight strings. Small pieces of cane or wood are placed under the cords at each end to alter the length and the pitch.
TONGKUNGON
Tongkungan creates a soft and melodious sound. This instrument is played for personal entertainment and relaxation. The instrument is popular not only among the Kadazandusuns but also amongst other ethnics in Sabah and throughout Borneo.
INSTRUMENTS
SUNDATANG
A chordophone of the Kadazandusun communities which is Sundatang is a strummed lute made from Nangka (jackfruit) wood. It sometimes has two or three strings that were traditionally made from the giman plant.
SUNDATANG
Sundatang is tune by twisting pegs at the top of the instruments. The music is soft and mystical, and copies the melodies and rhythms of various dances.
This instruments is often played solo for personal entertainment, and a lot of old instruments have become cherished heirloom, handed down from father to son.