The world of Agusan Manobo Music
In Agusan Manobo society, music does not exist alone. It is multimedia. Instrumental music, for example, is linked to myths of nature, propels and synchronizes dance movements, and it can simulate speech. More importantly, Agusan Manobo unaccompanied, solo song tud-om is associated with shamanic ritual performances. This verbal art is obviously multimedia for in ritual performance, participants experience song along with visual and kinesthetic gestures and objects. Hence, it is experienced multisensorially.
Manobo ideology of song points to the essence of what it means to be a person in society. The meaning of this vocal expression is brought to light when comprehensively explored within the context of song’s ritualized performance. Voice--the medium--of song is ambiguous because it is imagined to be located at the border of nature/spirit and human worlds. Voice emits from the singer’s body (the most fundamental medium) to articulate acts of compassion, particularly expressing a local ideology of sharing for survival. Song is therefore not merely envoiced--mere words--but conveys a gesture imbued with particular meanings. Sung to an Other, whose difference is respected and related to, Manobo song presences a self to the natural and social worlds. It is an ethical engagement.
