Kernel: A Basis in Analyzing the Tiniglalaki, a Panay Bukidnon Dance Music

Abstract

This research makes use of "kernel", or the waiting time to establish the proper timing in playing musical instruments. The author examines kernel in the music of "tiniglalaki" (for a man and his partner) that is used in the binanog (hawk-eagle dance) among the Panay Bukidnon of Western Visayas, Philippines. Through an ethnomathematical approach, this quantitative way of analyzing beats of music aligns with the way Bloch (1987) studied kernel functions, which can be plotted from structural properties and inherent attributes of a studied mathematical space. On the other hand, the author also utilized ethnography, a qualitative way to examine local characteristics, that is, the local people's music and breathing sequences to understand kernel patterns. The research finds that the sequences of sounds and the "waiting time" in music provides for preparation between the actions of producing sounds. The purpose of the research is to understand human expression in relation to sound production though mathematical analysis.