José S Buenconsejo, PhD University of the Philippines [Revised draft of paper, formerly titled “Aesthetic Mimesis in Indigenous Philippine Music,” given in an online lecture organized by the Museo ng Katutubong Kaalaman or the Museum of Indigenous Knowledge on 25 April 2022. For citing this paper, please use this information. Gratitude is expressed to Corazon Alvina, director of the museum, for inviting me to present my research findings.] Introduction Indigenous Philippine music, vocal and instrumental, is a marker of cultures that are partially shared among the inhabitants of the islands. Th ..read more

The boxed set of four video documentaries with accompanying research monograph titled “Music-Cultural Flows and Exchanges in Pulangi River, Maguindanao: The Making and Circulation of Gongs and Bamboo Music Instruments” is now available. This is the research grant output of Dr. Jose S Buenconsejo of the University of the Philippines funded by the National Research Council of the Philippines. The documentary videos were filmed in the provinces of Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat in 2022-2023. It explores the shared and unique indigenous music traditions among the Muslim Maguindanaon and their ne ..read more

Kudyapiq in Old Maguindanao The fourth volume of the NRCP research grant “Music Cultural Flows” titled Karatuan will have its first screening on May 15, 2023 at the Videotheque, UP Film Center. Free Admission. This is a rare research documentary by Jose S Buenconsejo, PhD featuring Karatuan Kalanduyan, kudyapiq teacher, with his family Kalano and Nissan, brother Kanapia and sister Kanaot; kudyapiq players Kundo Talin, Alex Kamad; tumpong player Sadika Timbang; and dikil singers Basir Saliangguto, Mantiong Alba, Angkanan Maliga. camera man Rajii Marren Lunas non-linear editing and trailer Dr. C ..read more

Myth, Song, and Divination of the Obo, Manobo Dulangan, and Tboli in Sultan Kudarat, Mindanao, Philippines First Screening in the University of the Philippines Film Center on February 23, 2023 at 2:30PM. Free admission. A National Research Council of the Philippines Research Grant Output of Dr. Jose S Buenconsejo Trailer made by Dr. Crisancti Macazo ..read more

COMING SOON Water of the Mountains: Music, Divination, and Myth of the Obo and Manobo Dulangan in Sultan Kudarat, Mindanao Volume 3 of the NRCP video documentary series “Music Cultural Flows” Researched by Jose S Buenconsejo Abstract Like water that generates life and that heals, history of cultures does not flow in a neat and linear manner but adapts to gravitational pull and to the contours of its surroundings that, in return, physically shape it as it moves in the landscape. The Obo myth of creation is an allegory of archaic humans being swallowed by water –a singularity–after a needle, a t ..read more

COMING SOON Water of the Mountains: Music, Divination, and Myth of the Obo and Manobo Dulangan in Sultan Kudarat, Mindanao Volume 3 of the NRCP video documentary series “Music Cultural Flows” Researched by Jose S Buenconsejo Abstract Like water that generates life and that heals, history of cultures does not flow in a neat and linear manner but adapts to gravitational pull and to the contours of its surroundings that, in return, physically shape it as it moves in the landscape. The Obo myth of creation is an allegory of archaic humans being swallowed by water –a singularity–after a needle, a t ..read more

A research documentary by Dr. Jose S Buenconsejo to be premiered on December 12, 2022, 2:30 (Philippine Time) at The Videotheque of Cine Adarna in UP Diliman campus. This documentary reflects on the life of a distinguished woman Ang Kapitana (The Captain) in the mountainous village of Bayabas, Upi Maguindanao. Through a socio-centric approach in rendering her biography, one can trace the connections of women’s activities to music, their role in ritual, and their sociability as members of a Teduray upland community. Women’s work is highly valued in this world whose residents are cente ..read more

Crisancti Lucena Macazo, PhD is an amateur filmmaker and photographer, violinist, educator, vlogger, and an independent scholar. He obtained his Doctor of Philosophy in Music degree from the University of the Philippines, Diliman in 2020 with the dissertation titled, “Music and Image: The Soundtrack of Manuel Conde’s Extant Films, 1941–1958.” His dissertation’s central thesis is on the narrative capability of music in films. Among his works in filmmaking include, Buhayin! Ang Musika sa Talambuhay ng Tao (Let Live! Music in the Biography of a Person) where he did the art dir ..read more

A community film project on traditional music in the lives of ordinary people. The Ethnographies of Philippine Popular Music Culture group, based in Ateneo de Manila University (Department of Development Studies) and which is a consortium of scholars from the said department and the University of the Philippines Colleges of Music and Mass Communication is pleased to announce the completion of its third video production, this time a short narrative film with documentary footages of folk festival in Obando. The synopsis of the film and rationale of the project goes: “The reality of Filipinos goi ..read more

Tokan, the Kulintang Maker of Upriver Maguindanao A Research Documentary by Jose S Buenconsejo, PhD Everyone is invited to the initial screening of the above-captioned on Thursday, 11 August 2022, 2PM, Abelardo Hall Auditorium, University of the Philippines College of Music Synopsis: This is a story of a remarkable traditional Maguindanaon musician nicknamed Tokan who plays for village celebrations and who also makes kulintangan instruments which are currently in demand locally and internationally. Rather than seen from an individualist lens, the documentary interprets Tokan’s life as wholly s ..read more