The faglong, also known as kuglong, hagalong, kutyapi, is a two-stringed boat-shaped lute. Its two strings are of metal, with one played as a drone, and the other strummed to produce a melody using the pentatonic scale. The sluday or sloray is a polychordal bamboo tube zither having an anhemitonic tuning, on which melodic patterns are repeated over long periods. (This is the same instrument known as tangkol to the Bukidnon, takol to the Mansaka, saluray to the Ata, and tangko to the Mangguangan.) The most common wind instrument is the finagtong, a short bamboo flute with five finger holes. Apart from the odol ceremony, the Bilaan have dance dramas and dance rituals which depict their customs and traditions. An important, and probably the longest dance drama is the series of dances depicting the different stages of rice planting, whcih enacts to music the stages already described, namely: the mabah or plea for the gods to help a farmer choose the field to clear; the abmigo or clearing the field; the amlah or planting of the rice; and the kamto or harvest of the rice. The admulak is a dance depicting bird hunting with bow and arrow. The thick rainforests of Bilaan country is haven to many kinds of birds and game. In this dance drama, three hunters hide under an amlat (bird shelter) built under trees of thick foliage, where birds flock to feed and rest. To provide tempo, a faglong player describes in song the movements of the dancers. All performers use a uniform dance step to keep in tune with the faglong, as they mime the movement of hunters. They look up at the big trees, discussing the source of the calls. They set thin arrows on their bows, slowly creeping towards a more propitious place, in order to conceal themselves while intently listening to bird sounds. Spotting birds alight, the group becomes spirited. A Bilaan standing as at distance imitates birdcalls, as he cups his hands around his mouth. Alerted and assured of a prey, the dancers crawl to a vantage position, arrows steadied on their bows now oriented towards the source of bird calls. A hunter shoots an arrow, and downs a bird. There is excitement as they scuffle for the catch. The bird is actually a bundle of dried leaves thrown in by a spectator at a given signal.Traditionally, whoever shoots down the first bird must cook and eat it without sharing the catch with his companions. This is said to ensure a bountiful hunt. In the dance drama, the two unsuccessful hunters enviously look on as their comrade eats his catch. Suddenly, the latter gets an upset stomach, flails about, contorts, doubles over, writhes in pain, and throws up. His confused and frightened companions try to comfort him, then rush back to the village to fetch the alamoos. The amti is a dance drama on fishing, which depicts a river fishing going through his daily routine of setting traps. His dance weaves around the choice of spots where he can set his bubo traps, where to spread dried banana leaves for his shelter, how to lure fish into his traps, and where to spread the poison sap extracted from the roots of the tubli plant. The movements of the fisher's trap are imitated step by step in the dance sequence: the setting of traps, luring of the fish toward them, poisoning and inspecting the catch. He builds a fire to wrm himself. Then he goes to the water and catches an elusive fish between his legs. He skewers the fish and cooks it over the fire. Finally, he collects his catch in a side basket, and happily dances away with the bubo over his shoulders and his fish in the basket.
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