While the sounds of jazz flowed in one end of the Creative Arts building practice halls last Friday, students in another room played music of an indigineous group of people in the Philippines that is over 1,000 years old.

The students in Professor Danongan Kalanduyan’s class were playing Kulintang, a traditional music originating from the southern Philippines. Kulintang is the name of an eight-gong instrument as well as the ensemble of five instruments played, which sound like a xylophone-drum set. Spaniard and Western colonizers did not take or try to change Kulintang when they were in control of southern Philippines. Because of that, some people deem it “the music of resistance.”

“It resisted extinction,” said Danilo Begonia, an Asian American studies professor at SF State. “The music comes from around 300 AD in pre-Islamic times. It is true indigenous root music.”

Kulintang is passed on verbally from generation to generation, and Kalanduyan, 56, carries on that tradition by teaching Kulintang music and dance at SF State. It is offered in three different departments: ethnic studies, dance or music.

Kalanduyan’s parents and relatives taught him to play. When he was little, he said his mother put him on her lap and moved his arms for him. Kalanduyan came to the University of Washington in Seattle to get his Ethnomusicology degree and was an artist-in-residence in their music department. Kalanduyan came to San Francisco in 1984 and was active in various music groups all over California from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Students and colleagues refer to Kalanduyan as “Master K,” because he is a master musician, ethnomusicologist, and cultural consultant of Muslim-Filipino culture.

Begonia said he admires Kalanduyan’s “dedication to preserving (this tradition) for over three decades.”

“He’s an unbelievably skilled musician,” Begonia said. “With him on campus, SF State is ground zero for Kulintang music. If you want to learn Kulintang music, this is the place.”

Begonia, a member of Kalanduyan’s Palabuniyan Kulintang Ensemble (PKE), came up with and wrote the proposal to offer a Kulintang class at SF State, when Kalanduyan was an artist in residence. The class started a year and a half ago.

Kalanduyan was born and raised in Mindanao Island, in the Philippines. The Maguindanao, Maranao and Tausug peoples of Mindanao also play Kulintang, but play it differently. Kalanduyan primarily teaches the Maguindanao style of Kulintang.

“The first time I ever heard Kulintang music was in AAS 355 – Psyche and Behavior of Pilipinos – being played by Professor Begonia,” said James Valoria, 22, a political rhetoric and psychology major. “As soon as he started to play, my whole body got warm and tingly, and I knew exactly what Professor Begonia meant when he spoke about the power this music could potentially have on us -- whether it’s mentally, physically or spiritually. It made me feel real good to be witness to an art so beautiful, and to this day, I still get the same feeling every time I hear a Kulintang performance."

The three-hour class is taught Friday afternoons. The first half of class is lecture; students practice on a Sarunay, a child size Kulintang instrument, in the second half.

Last Friday, Kalanduyan made the whole class play a song called “Katoronan.” After he complimented the class for playing it right, he announced later on they would play one by one in front of the whole class. For “Katoronan,” the students’ left hand hit the Kulintang at a steady pace as the right hand moved up and down the instrument. There is a boss in the middle of each gong, which looks like an inverted golf ball shape. It is hit by a wooden stick and produces a xylophone-like stinging sound.

Kalanduyan reminded the students that practice is key, corrected the students’ left hand’s posture, and proceeded to have the class play the same song over and over. Kalanduyan changed the tempo faster and slower to test the students. Several advanced students left to play in another room, to practice for a show this Saturday.

“When you play or practice long enough, it’s like you’re in a trance-like state,” said teacher’s assistant Mitchell Yangson, who is working on his master’s degree. Musicians’ faces typically look stoic, Yangson, 24, said, but it could be because one really gets lost in the music or one is playing for the first time and is concentrating hard.

“When I was in PACE (Pilipino American Collegiate Endeavor), I saw members practicing and at first, I thought it was impossible,” said Mich Tinsay, a beginner in the class. “But Master Kalanduyan is hella patient and super nice. He doesn’t mind teaching over and over again till you get it. He’s really humble.”

The first time Ava Tong heard PKE, she actually went to see Begonia’s Ating Tao Drum Circle perform for extra credit.

“Kulintang songs all sounded the same to me and to tell the truth, I wasn’t interested at first,” said Tong, 27, an Asian American studies graduate. “However, the first time I got behind a Kulintang and learned a song, it was a whole different story. Kulintang has changed my life in drastic ways. I’m really happy that I was able to find some kind of talent in some part of me because I really didn’t think I would ever be able to do something like this.”

To truly master Kulintang, one must learn to play all the instruments in the ensemble. Besides the Kulintang, there is a Babendil, a small gong used to keep time.

A Dabakan is a kettle-shaped wooden drum covered with natural goat or lizard skin. Tall Dabakans are played standing up.

An Agung are two, large hanging gongs played by one or two musicians. A Gandingan is a set of four hanging gongs played by single musician with rubber-covered sticks.

“The music is all about playing in an ensemble and being on equal terms with all the musicians,” said Josh Castro, 24, PACE history coordinator. He compares it to playing in a rock band. Castro plays guitar, but if a rock band was Kulintang music, the band members would learn to play all drums, bass, guitar and vocals.

“It’s important that we preserve the music," said Kulintang student Llayda Punsal, 25, Asian American studies major, "and teach it to the younger generations so they can carry it on.”