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| youtube channel UP Tugma |
Since March 2020, Manila had been placed in various stages of lockdown. There was CQ Community Quarantine, ECQ Enhanced Community Quarantine, GCQ General Community Qurantine and MECQ Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine. It looked well and organised on papers but outside, in real life, on the streets, it remains all the same-- anxiety, stress, distress, uncertainty, and to some extent fear. It was a new brand of chaos that is new to all of us. This ensemble piece worked out these lockdown rhetoric into melodic experience. It gives us a semblance of harmony, if not actually hope.
Track Name: Lockdowns and Sounds: Kilos, Pakiramay, Pag-asa. Arrangers: Eva Cuenza and Jaime Dela Cruz. Performers: [Kulintangan] Marla Anonuevo -Kulintang, James Gazmin- Agong, Kiks Ferrer- Babandir, Miguel Matthew- Dabakan; [Voices] Lhareen Lazo, Jeannae Dormido, Joseph Tinio, Jaime Dela Cruz, Angelo Laureta || Date created: September 18, 2020 || Date recorded: October 2-18, 2020 || Duration: 1.53mins
This piece is a composition in Tidtu Kamamatuan, a Maguindanao traditional kulintangan. The melodic contours is an attempt to portray a soundscape that would describe the lockdown experience. Melodic modes were clustered according to the type of lockdown that were implemented in Metro Manila. On the graph, a week constitutes one whole melodic mode from the lockdown it represents. The line graph represents the number of cases. It is accentuated by the dynamics coming from the rest of the ensemble – wherein the volume is directly proportional to the number of cases. The gradual fading volume and abrupt ending of the music then is an optimistic attempt to look forward to better days. And the opportunity to respond by adjusting and adapting to new normal.