By Luke Hagberg
The dabakan is a native drum to the
How does the production of drums affect the ecology of the forests and lizards? Are coconut trees being cut down too frequently? Are there other leathers that would be better than reptile? Are certain kinds of lizards becoming rarer because they are being killed to make drums? Would the presence of more drums create too high of a demand on the trees or should the production of the drums be controlled? Could poor people make a profit producing these drums? Would these drums sell?
Would the production and selling of these drums yield enough money? A great demand for native crafts exists for the tourist industry. Many tourists like to buy different kinds of native crafts and instruments. Research done by surveys shows that tourists want to learn about the culture of the country they are going to and be able to take part of that culture back home with them. Would tourists buy a dabakan? Would musicians be interested in purchasing these tribal drums to use for their own purposes?
The purpose of this project is to research about the biology and ecology of the rain forests of the
Cocos Nucifera is also known as the coconut palm. In addition it is called the coconut because of its fruit. The most common name is a coconut tree. In Tagalog, the coconut tree is referred to as niyog or the “tree of life” because of the many uses it has from the roots all the way up the tree. Also, in
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Magnoliophyta (angiosperms)
Class: Liliopsida (monocots/lily family)
Order: Arecales (flowering plants)
Family: Arecaceae (palms)
Genus: Cocos (monkey-faced)
The coconut palm grows anywhere from 20 to 30 meters in height and may live as long as 100 years. Its single trunk is smooth and gray. Its trunks are marked by ring scars which are left by the fallen leafbases. From four to six meters long the leaves of the coconut are pinnate consisting of linear-lanceolate, green leaflets.
The coconut is as big as a man’s head. With a smooth gray-brownish epicarp which is fibrous and four to eight centimeters thick. The fruit can weigh one to two kilograms. The woody endocarp is light which allows the coconut to float and be carried by water for long distances. In the center of the coconut is one seed which is located in a partly liquid, partly solid endosperm.
The tree produces an adventitious root system which consists of 2000 to 4000 roots. The roots can go down as far as six meters but usually only go down one and a half meters.
Because it is a plant, cocos nucifera photosynthesizes to produce food. The chloroplasts in the cells of the leaves absorb sunlight and use it to produce sugars which are used for food. Coconut trees are usually found at sea level to 150 meters above sea level. Near the equator though, the coconut tree can grow up from 0 – 600 meters above sea level. The amount of rainfall for the tree to survive is 1500 to 2500 millimeters. Coconut trees can grow in many different kinds of soils, but grow best in sandy, saline soils requiring sunlight. The tempature needs to be over 65 degrees Fahrenheit and direct sunlight is the best for the plant with humidity 70 to 80%+.
Coconut palm reproduces by the pollination of flowers. The trees are polygamomonoecious which means that the trees have both male and female flowers. The coconut palms cross-pollinate with the help of insects or wind. Some kinds of trees are self-pollinating. Also, four kinds of coconut bats can pollinate coconut trees. These bats are the dawn bat, the small long-toed fruit bat, the Marians flying fox and the
Cocos nucifera lives on the coasts or near the ocean making it able to be exposed to salt water. Fresh and salt water are both good for the tree but the latter is better. Also droughts can have severe effects on the coconut trees because they need lots of rainfall to survive from 7 to 42 dm of rainfall a year. The annual temperature should be from 21 to 30 degrees Celsius for the greatest growth.
Phytoplasma disease which leads to lethal yellowing is one disease the fruit can have. The fruit can also be damaged by eriophyid mites. Also the coconut hispine beetle feeds on young leaves and damages the seedlings and mature coconut palms. The rhinoceros beetle is also a best and eats the coconuts and damages the tree.
The actual origin of the coconut tree is in debate with some saying it is from
The coconut is one of the ten most useful trees in the whole world. It can be used for food such as the millionaire’s salad. The heart of the coconut tree is used for the salad which is a vegetarian’s delight. It is also used in fashion shoes, caps and pressed helmets for soldiers. It produces good honey, a sweet juice and coconut molasses. It is used as vinegar and liquor. Coconut juice produced by a five month old fruit is so pure it was used to sterilize glucose solution and put directly into patients veins during World War II. Other uses of its juice are cooking oil, soap, shampoo, shaving cream, lubricants, synthetic rubbers and ice cream. The trunk is used for building sheds and other small buildings.
Cocos nucifera is available over the whole world and is not in endangered status. In the
The fading of the Dabakan from the Maranao and Maguidanao tribes is not good. The drum could become a thing of the past if we are not careful. What is a way that the drum could still be made and not forgotten about? Also not many know about the drum making it even more likely to fall out of existence. More research needs to be done about the drum and be made known to the public. There are several different solutions that would not only make the drum become known, but could also make a livelihood for the poor Filipinos of Manila. Below are three possible solutions for this problem and along with each solution are disadvantages and advantages of each.
Not many people know much about the Dabakan drum. Making a brochure to hand out would inform many different people here in the
Advantages:
Disadvantages:
To talk to a professional drummer of the Dabakan, I could learn more about the techniques of playing the drum and how important it is to society.
Advantages:
Disadvantages
Making the Dabakan could be a potential source of income for poor squatter families in
smoothed out the slope by shaving the wood away. I also used the bolo to make a sloping effect for the bowl of the drum. Once all the carving on the outside was finished, I used an electric drill to bore holes into the bowl of the drum. In addition to the drill, I used a chisel to hollow out the rest of the drum. After all of the carving and the bowl was hollowed out, I sanded the drum to give it a smooth and nice finish. Then I varnished the drum and let it dry, before attaching the head over the cavity of the drum. I used screws to hold the head and vice-grips to pull on the leather to tension the head.
Advantages:
Disadvantages
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2. "Cocos Nucifera Linnaeus." Plant a Palm. 2006. Palm & Cycad Societies of Florida, Inc. 5 Apr. 2008 <http://www.plantapalm.com/vpe/photos/Species/cocos_nucifera.htm>.
3. Duke, James A. "Cocos Nucifera L."
4. Faucon, Philippe. "Coconut Tree." Desert Tropicals. 2005.
5. Guglielmo, Anna, Pietro Pavone, and Cristina Salmeri. "The Coconut Palm." Palms. Dipbot.
6. Jager, Fekke De. "Dadabuan." Kipas. 2005.
7. Stallsmith, Glenn. "Tribal Drums in the Philipines."
8. Mercurio, Philip Dominguez. "ETHS 545: Traditional Music of the