View source for Babendil

{{Short description|Philippine gong}}
{{Infobox Instrument
| name           = Babandil
| image          = Babendil 01.jpg
| classification = Idiophone
| background     = percussion
| hornbostel_sachs = 111.241.1
| hornbostel_sachs_desc = Gong
| developed      = [[Indonesia]]<ref name=Skog>Skog, Inge. "North Borneo Gongs and the Javanese Gamelan." Ethnomusicology Research Digest 4(1993): 55-102.</ref>
}}

The '''babandil''' is a single, narrow-rimmed [[Philippines|Philippine]] [[gong]]<ref name=Kristina>Benitez, Kristina. The Maguindanaon Kulintang: Musical Innovation, Transformation and the Concept of Binalig. Ann Harbor, MI: University of Michigan, 2005.</ref>
used primarily as the “timekeeper” of the [[Maguindanao people|Maguindanao]] [[kulintang]] ensemble.<ref name=Philip>{{cite web
 | last = Mercurio
 | first = Philip Dominguez
 | year = 2006
 | url = http://www.pnoyandthecity.blogspot.com
 | title = Traditional Music of the Southern Philippines
 | work = PnoyAndTheCity: A center for Kulintang - A home for Pasikings
 | access-date = February 25, 2006
 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060228102028/http://www.pnoyandthecity.blogspot.com/| archive-date= 28 February 2006 | url-status= live}}</ref>

==Description==

The babendil usually has a diameter of roughly one foot making it larger than the largest kulintang gong and comparable to the diameter of the [[agung]] or [[gandingan]]. However, unlike the gandingan or the agong, the babendil has a sunken boss which makes the boss relatively non-functional.<ref name=Usopay>Cadar, Usopay Hamdag (1971). The Maranao Kolintang Music: An Analysis of the Instruments, Musical Organization, Ethmologies, and Historical Documents. Seattle, WA: University of Washington.</ref> Because of their sunken boss, babendils are  instead struck either at the flange or the rim, using either bamboo betays or a strip of rattan, producing a sharp, distinctive metallic clang<ref name=Philip/> and are sometimes considered “false gongs.” In fact, this distinction makes the babendil classified as a [[bell (instrument)|bell]] in the [[Hornbostel-Sachs]] classification (if it were struck at the boss, it would be considered a [[gong]].)<ref name=Usopay/>

Babandils are normally made out of bronze but due to the scarcity of this metal in [[Mindanao]], most gongs, including the babendil are made out of more common metal such as brass, iron and even tin-can.<ref name=Kristina/>

[[Image:Babendil 02.jpg|thumb|left|Student demonstrating the proper way to use the babendil]]

==Technique==

The babendil could be played while standing<ref name=Philip/> or when seated with the babendil hung half a foot from the floor.<ref name=Usopay/> Proper technique requires the player to hold the babendil vertically, angled away from the body, with the gong held at the rim between their thumb and four fingers. With their thumb parallel to the rim of the gong, the players strikes the rim of the gong using their betay<ref name=Philip/> to play fundamental patterns that are similar to the drum pattern on the dabakan or the beat of the lower-pitched agung.<ref name=Usopay/>

== Uses ==
[[Image:Babendil 03.jpg|thumb|right|The babendil]]
The babendil traditionally could be played by either genders.<ref name=Aga>{{cite web
 | last = Butocan
 | first = Aga M.
 | year = 2006
 | url = http://www.freewebs.com/kulintang/gandinganbabendir.htm
 | title = Gandingan/Babendil
 | work = Kulintang and the Maguindanaos
 | access-date = August 23, 2006
 }}</ref> In wooden kulintang ensembles, the [[kagul]] is usually substituted for the babendil part.<ref name=Kristina/> Among the [[Tausūg people|Tausug]], the [[Samal people|Samal]] and the [[Yakan people|Yakan]], their babendil-type instrument generally has gone into disuse (Instead, tempo is kept in check using the highest gong on the kulintangan . Solembat is term used by the Samal for the ostinato beat while the Yakan call that same beat, nulanting.)<ref name=Philip/> while among the Tagbanwa, the babandil is used not only to keep the rhythm of pieces but also as a song accompaniment as well.<ref name=Fe>{{cite web
 |last=Fernandaz 
 |first=Fe Tria 
 |year=2000 
 |url=http://www.ops.gov.ph/pia/philtoday/pt03/pt0312.htm 
 |title=Palawan Culture: Rich, colorful, fascinating 
 |publisher=Philippines Today 
 |access-date=August 23, 2006 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070428063318/http://www.ops.gov.ph/pia/philtoday/pt03/pt0312.htm 
 |archive-date=April 28, 2007 
}}</ref>

==Origins==

The origins of the word "babendil" could either be traced from the Middle East or the Indian Subcontinent.<ref name=Usopay/> Scholars suggest the name babendil is derived from the Arabic word, bandair, meaning, “circular-type, pan-Arabic, [[tambourine]] or [[frame drum]].<ref name=Farmer>Farmer, Herny G.. Historical Facts for the Arabian Musical Influence. London: William Reeves, 1930.</ref>" Others suggests that since the babendil is closely related to the Javanese bebende or bende (a gong with similar characteristics and uses in the [[colotomy|colotomic]] [[gamelan]] ensemble), it perhaps has relations with an ancient Indian [[kettle drum]], behri, where ancient [[Sanskrit]] indicated the bende was the bronze equivalent of the behri.<ref name=McPhee>McPhee, Colin. Music in Bali. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1996.</ref>

==Other derivative names==

Also called: babendir,  ([[Maguindanao people|Maguindanao]]) babndir ([[Maranao]]), bandil, babandil, babindil, bapindil, (Other Southern Philippine Groups),<ref name=Usopay/> babandir ([[Tagbanwa people|Tagbanwa]], [[Batak (Philippines)|Batak]], [[Palawan|Palaw’an]]),<ref name=Fe/> banendir,<ref>{{cite web
 |last        = Cruz
 |first       = Gary
 |year        = 2006
 |url         = http://www.likha.org/company/musicians.asp
 |title       = Musicians - Rondalla and Percussionists
 |publisher   = Likha-Pilipino Folk Ensemble
 |access-date  = August 23, 2006
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20060619120152/http://www.likha.org/company/musicians.asp
 |archive-date = 2006-06-19
 |url-status     = dead
}}</ref> tungtung, ([[Tausūg people|Tausug]]), salimbal ([[Samal people|Samal]]) and the mapindil ([[Yakan people|Yakan]]).<ref name=Philip/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Indonesian musical instruments}}
{{S Filipino instruments}}
{{Percussion}}
{{Bells}}

[[Category:Philippine musical instruments]]
[[Category:Gongs]]
[[Category:Bells (percussion)]]
[[Category:Culture of Maguindanao del Norte]]
[[Category:Culture of Maguindanao del Sur]]
[[Category:Asian percussion instruments]]
[[Category:Philippine folk instruments]]