Diwa de Leon and his hegalong project

Composer and musician Diwa de Leon is pretty popular online. His self-produced videos of his performances of popular themes from movies like “Pirates of the Carribean” and games like Super Mario Bros. keep people clicking on his YouTube channel, which has 2,587,677 views.

 

Since he first uploaded a video four years ago, Diwa has attracted a modest following of fans, who show their support through their enthusiastic comments whenever he posts something new. Even those who had never heard of Diwa before are impressed with his skill. "I like him already," said Dig Radio host Cyrus Fernandez upon seeing that the newest video is a rendition of the Skyrim theme.  

 

Diwa has numerous projects, from scoring for television shows like “Survivor Philippines,” theater, film, advertisements to composing jingles. He is also a member of the Pinoy world music band Makiling Ensemble, together with his fellow alumni from the Philippine High School for the Arts.

 

"Any kind of project na may kinalaman sa music, and as long as I have the time to do it, gagawin ko," says Diwa.

 

The 31-year-old lives and breathes music, but it wasn't always the case. Although his relationship with music can be traced to when he made his first original composition at the age of seven years old, he says his skill was developed by force.

 

At first, the story of Diwa's childhood is typical enough for a middle class family, back when it seemed everyone had to have piano lessons, which Diwa had. But with composer, scholar and professor Felipe De Leon Jr. as his father, much more was expected of Diwa. Aside from piano lessons, he took violin lessons, and they even wanted him to enroll in guitar lessons.

 

"Why me?" he recalls thinking. "They were all grooming me to become the next professional musician in my generation, in my family."

 

Like many other teenagers, Diwa rebelled in high school, and took Visual Arts as his major instead of Music, as he was expected to. But his violin lessons continued, and by the time he graduated from high school, his interest in music had returned.

 

"Nag-College of Music ako in UP [University of the Philippines], and this time, I really embraced it," he says.  

Discovering the two-stringed hegalong

 

Despite his various music lessons, Diwa's favorite instrument is one he learned to play on his own. He first discovered the hegalong while listening to Joey Ayala, whom he recalls as one of the first to use it in modern music.

 

Diwa was immediately fascinated by the instrument, which had only two strings, but could produce a variety of sounds. "Hindi mo maiisip na two strings lang talaga," he says, his enthusiasm very much evident.

 

He was a freshman in high school at the time, and despite trying to escape the pressure to be a musician, he asked his father to buy him a hegalong during one of his trips to South Cotabato.

 

By listening to recordings from his father's fieldwork, Diwa learned to play the hegalong, and eventually developed his own style. This month, Diwa is releasing his second album, "Memories on Two Strings." The album is a collection of 25 original songs, all featuring the hegalong.

 

Diwa shares that YouTube became his testing ground for what he calls the Hegalong Project. Reactions are generally positive ranging from comments like "You are a mad genius!" to requests for making the music available on iTunes, as well as inquiries about the hegalong. In a video explaining the project, Diwa explains his attempt to blend the hegalong with electronic and chill out music, which he describes as simple yet complex with a meditative quality. "It's about embracing technology while giving importance to your own culture," he says.

 

"I like how he uses that hegalong. It's ethnic, but he managed to add a more contemporary flavor to the playing," observes Fernandez.  

 

After discovering that he had an audience, Diwa decided to continue and focus on attracting an international audience online. "I don't know if it's really the pattern, but once you attract a certain international following mas papansinin ka locally," he says, adding that the album is available online, and the physical CD is like a bonus release for local selling.

 

The material and the art are self-produced, but Diwa was able to get partial funding from the National Commission of Culture and the Arts, which his father currently heads. Diwa notes that the funding was approved before his father's appointment as chairman.

 

According to Diwa, the hegalong is the underdog of underdogs. "It's very obscure, because ethnic music in the Philippines is already the underdog. Tapos ang mas kilala 'yung kulintang," he says.

 

By taking a very traditional instrument and bringing it into the present day setting, Diwa hopes that more people can appreciate the hegalong and associate it with the country the way the sitar is immediately associated with India.

 

"If I can find a way to put it into a modern style of music, techno, rock, hiphop, all present day genres of music, if I can find a way to fit the hegalong in that style, I think it's a valid attempt to push the hegalong into a more modern consciousness," says Diwa.

 

Not yet time to teach

 

He admits that the Hegalong Project needs more people than himself, but the conditions aren't ripe yet for him to begin teaching others to play the hegalong.

 

First of all, it's difficult to acquire a standard type of hegalong. "May version 'yung Palawan, may version din 'yung T'boli. There are at least five different common versions of the hegalong," explains Diwa. Although they are all played in the same way, each has a different tuning. The bigger goal is for the album to garner mass interest, such that someone might invest in mass producing a standard kind of hegalong that can be sold in major music stores.

 

"Kapag dumating sa point na ganun na may valid market, that's when I can say, 'Okay I will begin teaching hegalong' because pare-pareho na 'yung tunog. I will make a standard teaching module, parang ganun. As of now, I want to teach but I don't have the capacity to mass produce hegalongs. Kasi naka-focus ako sa music," he says.

 

Diwa notes that 90 percent of the music in his album is generated from computer software. The hegalong is the only live instrument apart from the vocals, which are contributed by several artists including Cooky Chua, Zab Reyes, Charanjit Wasu, Jeanne Vicars, Jaf Husin, Aba Dalena and Brian Ligsay.

 

"It's another exploration of technology and a traditional instrument. Marriage na talaga ng technology and tradition pati sa creation process," says Diwa, who adds that he has no inhibitions when it comes to innovation.

 

"Na-outgrow na natin 'yung fear na 'yun eh. For example, bending the string of the hegalong para mag-tunog blues rock 'yung style niya. It's never traditionally done by the ethnic groups na musicians. But I'm no longer afraid to do that if it will really push forward 'yung playing style ng hegalong. Talagang gagawin ko 'yun," he says.

 

But Diwa says he will never distort the hegalong's sound. "Talagang distinct na hegalong siya, hindi guitar, hindi computer. But the way I use it is very far from the traditional. No fear na talaga," he says. –KG, GMA News

 

“Memories on Two Strings” is available online at http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/diwadeleon2  

The album launch is on January 14, 2012 at 6 p.m. at Conspiracy Garden Cafe along Visayas Avenue in Quezon City.City. - KG, GMA News