Gandingan

The gandingan is a Philippine set of four large, hanging gongs used by the Maguindanao as part of their kulintang ensemble. When integrated into the ensemble, it functions as a secondary melodic instrument after the main melodic instrument, the kulintang. When played solo, the gandingan allows fellow Maguindanao to communicate with each other, allowing them to send messages or warnings via long distances. This ability to imitate tones of the Maguindanao language using this instrument has given the gandingan connotation: the “talking gongs.”

Set of four tuned suspended bossed gongs played in the kulintang ensemble of the southern Philippines, most commonly by the Magindanaon people. Gongs are struck directly on the boss by rubber knobs; the Magindanaon also play by striking the side of the gong with a stick (called pamendel playing). The gandingan are suspended from a wooden frame, arranged in two pairs with the bosses of each pair facing each other.