Lemhadong Collective ~ Women Artists of Lake Sebu [Buda]

Lemhadong Art Collective Members:
Fingguy Flang, Tunding Maguan, Luming Tuan, Lundi Langon, Minga Maguan, Mina Tungan, Melun Malungal, Neyet Mindal, Blina Tuhitum, Mundi Baai, Anay Maguan, Asita Ralla



'The Tboli are an Indigenous Cultural Community of the Philippines. They live in small mountains surrounding Lake Sebu, in the Cotabato Cordillera, Southern Mindanao. Their territory went through spectacular transformations during the past decades. Until the 1950's, this region was entirely forested. Its inhabitants lived in small hamlets surrounded by temporary gardens, in the heart of the forest which fed them. Their fine knowledge of the vegetal and animal world impregnated their imaginary and their arts.

The massive immigration of farmers from other regions of the Philippines disrupted the territory. This sudden transition was detrimental to the Tboli, many of whom lost all access to land and now live in utter precariousness. The musicians of Lemhadong are all Tboli, and it is the Tboli cultural heritage they wish to share through this record project.

Tudbulul, the mythological hero, lived alone with his family in a forest site called Lemhadong. One day, he organized a concert in which he gathered all the known music instruments and played them one after the others with his sisters. It attracted many inhabitants of the forest, who were delighted and decided to stay and live together with Tudbulul : this is how was founded the Tboli nation.

The musicians and artisans of the Lemhadong collective all reside in the village of Dekolon, on a hill overlooking Lake Sebu. They don't know how to read nor write, and survive day by day through small jobs. They learned music by observing the adults when they were children. No-one ever taught them, except sometimes a fairy appearing in their dreams. As a matter-of-fact, Tudbulul's concert didn't gather only humans : the fairies, custodians of the forest, were also attracted, and they were so enthralled by music that since then, they have been helping learning musicians by appearing in their dreams to encourage them. According to the Lemhadong artists, their musicianship has a lot to do with these wild fairies fond of music.

The general esthetics of Tboli music is vibrant, light and quick, with melodic patterns repeated like the geometric patterns used in the art of weaving. The many instruments are always played solo. The combination of several instruments as well as the association of voice and music are almost absent. The main instruments are the hegelung lute, the tubular zither sludoy and the klintang and smaggi metallophones, surrounded by a variety of small instruments : flutes, jaw harps & reedpipes. Though the instruments are played by many, singing - half declaimed and always as a soloist - is only practiced by recognized authors and performers.

Tboli music displays a large palette of sounds which follow each other without ever mingling, and Lemhadong's album reflects this particularity by taking the shape of a rich sound itinerary moving from one sound to another. The record Women artists of Lake Sebu is a sound portrait of the Lemhadong collective, and more generally the ecologic, social, musical and imaginary world of the Tboli. The soundwork takes the shape of a continuous mix associating music and sounds of the daily environment. To preserve authenticity, the recordings were made entirely on location, in the bamboo houses, the gardens and other places linked to the practice of music.

Through the album, we can hear the boat gliding on the lake, the lushness of insects, the gallop of the horse, the laughters of guests at a party, and many other snapshots plunging the listener at the heart of the Tboli world, making it possible to grasp the music in the context from which it came out.' ~ altamira

Recording, mixing, text and photographies : Boris Lelong

this one is a stunner. the recordings are lush & resonant with a variety of indigenous flora & fauna permeating every single traque. superb in every imaginable way. we can thank this guy for these adorable sonic portraits of everyday livin', tboli style