Kolintang

Kolintang is one of the musical instrument originated from Minahasa, North Sulawesi, Indonesia. It looks familiar to the xylophone and are made from light but solid wood. It was usually played with other string instruments such as guitar and ukelele. There are 5 types of Kolintang, Melody, Tenor, Alto, Contra and Bass. There are 3 types of mallets, dark green, mint and brown. Dark green mallets are for Melody and Alto. Mint mallets are for Tenors. Brown mallets are for Contra and Bass. When playing Kolintang, we pay attention to the red numbers. The Kolintang all have 2 octaves.
It is said that the name Kolintang came from the sound of low pitch note, high pitch note and moderate pitch note. Tong Ting Tang. After quite some time, the name of this instrument becomes Kolintang.
Like other instruments, the Kolintang's got a history of its own. I learned that Kolintang used to be wood bars placed on top of a sitting person's pair of legs stretched out on the floor. After a while, the pair of legs are replaced by a tree trunk or ropes. Then it was later replaced again by a resonance box, a box that creates the sound echo, when the prince of Java called Diponegoro was exiled to Minahasa, bringing an instrument with a resonance box with him called Gamelan. Kolintang was usually played on rituals of ancestor worshiping. It was then gone for a while when the Christian religion came to Minahasa and made a comeback after being reconstructed by Nelwan Katuuk to universal scales, after World War 2.