Rondalla Instrument

 

Rondalla Instruments

The instruments of the standard Filipino rondalla have similarities in structure and are played with a plectrum made out of turtle shell. Except for the guitar and bass guitar(double bass), all are 14-stringed consisting of six(6) sets of strings tuned in the intervals of fourths, each set consisting of 1, 2 or 3 string/s. The purpose of the doubling or tripling of strings is to produce better sound and increase tone volume.

The main parts of the stringed instruments of the rondalla are basically the same. A hollow body(sound box) constructed of a sound board(top plate), which is attached to a back board(back plate) by side walls(rims) form the main body of the instrument. The sound board picks up and amplifies the vibrations of the strings. The nice-figured body(sound box) is attached to one end of a narrow neck against which the strings can be shortened by pressing the fingers on the fingerboard to vary the vibrating length and thus the pitch. The neck ends in the tuning head which has the worm and gear mechanism to adjust the tension of the strings when tuning the instrument. There is a string holder(tailpiece) at the bottom of the body and a bridge on which the strings are stretched, so that they can vibrate freely. The sound holes with a round shape, except the laud which is f-shape, have a great influence on the timbre of the instrument. Basically, they communicate the volume of air inside the instrument with the outside air which is the medium in which the waves are carried from the instrument. The size and openness of the holes influences the frequency of the vibrating mass of air within the instrument and therefore the selective reinforcement of certain notes. The holes also influence the flexibility of the soundboard and consequently affect its vibrational patterns. Tops, backs, and sides are carefully selected and graduated to enhance their natural attributes. Every piece of wood from the neck to the smallest brace is acoustically matched to obtain the highest performance from each instrument. The wood of langka, kamagong, narra, ballatinao, tanguile, and Philippine mahogany were generally used as materials for the construction of the instrument. Although the imported pine wood and rosewood continued to be used by some.

The standard Filipino rondalla instruments are:

(Left to Right: Guitar, Laud, Bandurria, Octavina,Double Bass@center)

Guitar

A musical instrument having a flat-backed rounded body that narrows in the middle, a long fretted neck, and usually six strings, played by strumming or plucking.

Laud

The laud is a Spanish folk cittern. It has a flat soundboard and a flat back and has the basic shape of a teardrop. It is has 12 metal strings. Some laudes have a round soundhole (like a Spanish classical guitar) while others have two "f" holes and one or more small soundholes. I have seen teardrop as well as diamond shaped small soundholes--also I have seen lauds (spelled laudes in Spanish) with 4 small round soundholes.

Bandurria

The bandurria is a plectrum chordophone from Spain, similar to the cittern and the mandolin, primarily used in Spanish folk music. It bears a close resemblance to the Portuguese guitarra (a guitarra Portuguesa).

Prior to the 18th century, the bandurria had with a round back, similar or related to the mandore. It had become a flat-backed instrument by the 18th century, with five double courses of strings, tuned in fourths.^[1] The original bandurrias of the Medieval period had three strings. During the Renaissance they gained a fourth string. During the Baroque period the bandurria had 10 strings (5 pairs). The modern bandurria has 12 strings (6 pairs). The strings are tuned in unison pairs, going up in fourths from the low G#. The lowest four strings are a major-third above those of a standard guitar and the highest two strings are a fourth above a standard guitar, ie G♯, c♯, f♯, b, e and a.^[2]

Double Bass

he double bass, also called the string bass, upright bass, bass fiddle, bass violin, doghouse bass, stand-up bass or contrabass, is the largest and lowest-pitched bowed string instrument in the modern symphony orchestra, with strings usually tuned to E1, A1, D2 and G2 (see standard tuning). The double bass is a standard member of the string section of the symphony orchestra and smaller string ensembles in Western classical music. In addition, it is used in other genres such as jazz, 1950s-style blues and rock and roll, rockabilly/psychobilly, traditional country music, bluegrass, tango and many types of folk music. A person who plays the double bass is usually referred to as a bassist.