Asian musical cultures come together in the Southern Philippines. On these islands old Malay music and a later form of India/Muslim music coexist. Unaccompanied singing and the use of bamboo ideocords and bamboo flutes are indicative of practices common in Malaysia. The chanting of long, melismatic melodies are reminiscent of Indian and Islamic music; while gong playing with basses evokes practices similarly observed in Indonesia, Laos, Thailand, and Burma
