In August 2019, the Computer Software Division of the DOST Advanced Science and Technology Institute (DOST-ASTI) wrapped up Year 1 of the Philippine Indigenous Instrument Sounds Database project, or Project Katunog. The Philippines is undoubtedly one of the many countries known for its rich musical culture originated from the diverse local ethnic tribes and indigenous people from various regions of the country. Simply put, Katunog aims to further amplify the knowledge and encourage appreciation of local indigenous music among the current and future generations of Filipinos.

In cooperation with the UP Electrical and Electronics Engineering Institute (UP-EEEI) and UP Center for Ethnomusicology of the University of the Philippines, we developed an online database of Philippine indigenous music.

Katunog is pursuant to the current administration’s 10-Point Socioeconomic Agenda that aims to enhance the innovation and creative capacity of the local art industry. The portal is primarily developed for those with creative, academic, and cultural pursuits. It also aims to be of benefit to Philippine music educators, students, ethno-linguistic groups, the academe, and the public who has a passion for music.

Through this project, the DOST recognizes the contribution of the local music industry in our economy. The project paves the way for the creation of a digital portal that can provide access to recordings and sound files of local indigenous musical instruments and artists’ performances, together with their historical contexts. It also encourages other Filipinos to upload their own musical creations that can expand the content lineup of the portal.

Below are photos of some of the musical instruments being showcased by Katunog:

Tambol

Sarunay

Kuglung

Gabbang

In a 2019 paper entitled, “Timbre and Pitch Characterization of Monophonic Samples of Philippine Indigenous Instruments,” researchers from UP-EEEI examined monophonic samples of local instruments through their audio semantics brightness, roughness, and fullness. With our expertise in IT and web technologies and facilities, ASTI continues to provide the software infrastructure and developed the web interfaces for the portal. Moving forward, further computational analysis on the gathered sounds will be performed, leading to the implementation of a learning algorithm that can analyze and automatically categorize the collected sounds within the database.

Sample page of the musical instruments database that can be explored via the Katunog portal

Together with UP-EEEI, we also organized a 3-day training on how to utilize the portal, aiming to help the end-users understand the overall system features, uses of modules, basic troubleshooting, and the software used on the entire system.

Overall, Project Katunog is one of the many ways we can preserve the country’s rich culture, specifically the legacy of indigenous Filipino instruments and artists, helping flourish the creative economy and copyright-based industries in the country.