Kalutang Playing in Marinduque

Kalutang Ensemble


If you are not from Marinduque, you probably have not heard of the word "Kalutang".
Each of the school children as seen in the video above holds in each hand the end of specially chosen branch of the kwatingan tree found on the island, carefully cut to a specifications.

The banging together of the identical pair of wood on selected points along their length and at specific striking angles produces notes of definite pitches and of tonal quality that remotely resembles a cross between an unsustained marimba and castanets.

Thus, the kalutang belongs to the class of musical instrument that is generally classified as concussion idiophones. These instruments range in size from about ten inches in length and an inch in diameter for the soprano section to 4 feet and a diameter of 6 inches for the bass.

Due to the method used to produce sound, the kalutang bands of Marinduque never uses any additional percussion instruments. The percussion and rhythm have been integrated naturally in the manner and style these peculiar instruments are played according to an article published in the provincial website, www.marinduque.gov.ph