Education & Culture
Originally only meant to be a training tool for high school students, VISSER®
has since evolved into a sophisticated, yet still portable science kit configured for
the needs and demands of science courses in the K-12 curriculum. The kit is also
cost-effective—costing only about a tenth of the price of currently available
commercial products—making it affordable even for schools with limited
funding. Mass production and deployment of VISSER Ò kits are anticipated within
the next two to three years. The technology may also be exported to other
developing countries with limited access to modern science equipment.
Funded by: DOST | UP-OVPAA
Using Mathematics to Understand Perceptual Qualities of
Philippine Bamboo Instruments
Franz A. de Leon | Jose Marie Mendoza | Karla Madrid-Khalid | Karen Lazo
Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute
E-mail: [email protected]
Bamboo has long been used as raw material for Philippine instruments. In parts
of the Cordillera, the growth of a variety of bamboo species makes possible the
construction of certain musical instruments unique to the region. These include
the saggeypo (closed-ended, individual pipe), paldong (lip-valley notch flute), tongali
(noseflute), tambi (paired-string zither), kolitong (polycordial zither), tongatong
(stamping tube), patatag (xylophone staves), and patang-ug (percussion tube). In the
lowlands, banda kawayan (bamboo bands) also use a variety of instruments,
including the bumbong (bamboo tube), talungating (bamboo marimba), and angklung
(bamboo musical rattles).
These bamboo instruments are a vibrant part of Philippine indigenous heritage,
and as such, have been introduced into the K-12 curriculum to advance the
cultural knowledge and appreciation of the Filipino youth. However, one
challenge in teaching indigenous music is the limited number of manufacturers
and the lack of production standards, leading to inconsistencies in the sound
quality and durability of bamboo instruments.
With this project, the researchers aimed to understand instrument makers’
perception of quality, based on the raw materials used and processes applied.
They were able to set a baseline for acoustic quality by collecting audio samples
from various bamboo instruments and modelling vibrations to determine if the
10 | UP Diliman SALIKSIKHAY