gabbang
{{Short description|Philippine bamboo xylophone}}
{{Distinguish|Gambang (instrument)}}{{more footnotes|date=November 2012}}
{{Infobox instrument
|name= Gabbang
|names= bamboo xylophone,
agung gabbang (Yakan),
gambang (Samal),
gabbang (Tausug, Palawan)
|image= Philippine Gabbang.jpg
|image_capt= Gabbang owned by Kontra Gapi
|background= idiophone
|hornbostel_sachs=111.212List of aerophones by Hornbostel–Sachs number
}}
The gabbang, also known as bamboo xylophone, is a musical instrument made of bamboo widely used in southern Philippines. Among the Tausugs and Samas, it is commonly played to accompany songs and dances as a solo instrument or accompanied by the biola.{{Cite book |last=Miller |first=Terry E. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fh03DwAAQBAJ&q=gabbang+instrument&pg=PT1670 |title=The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music: Southeast Asia |last2=Williams |first2=Sean |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-351-54420-7 |location=New York, NY |language=en |orig-date=First published 1998}}
Physical features
A gabbang consists of a set of trapezoidal bamboo bars of increasing length resting on a resonator. The number of bars varies with the group that made them: Among Yakans, the number ranges from three to nine bamboo bars, but the common agung gabbang has five; among Tausugs, the number ranges from 14 to 22 bamboo bars, but the common gabbang has 12; and in Palawan, the common gabbang has five.{{Cite journal |last=Dioquinio |first=Corazon |date=2008 |title=Philippine Bamboo Instruments |url=http://journals.upd.edu.ph/index.php/humanitiesdiliman/article/view/1484 |journal=Humanities Diliman |language=en |volume=5 |issue=1&2 |page=107}}
Playing techniques
A bamboo xylophone is played by direct striking using a wooden mallet. The gabbang is played by a pair of beaters while another taps a rhythmic pattern on the side of the box.{{Cite web |last=De Leon |first=Felipe M. |title=Yakan Sonic Textures: A Heritage of Musical Instruments |url=https://ichcourier.ichcap.org/article/yakan-sonic-textures-a-heritage-of-musical-instruments/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190806142522/https://ichcourier.ichcap.org/article/yakan-sonic-textures-a-heritage-of-musical-instruments/ |archive-date=2019-08-06 |access-date=6 August 2019 |website=ICH Courier Online |language=en}}