Photograph by North Sulawesi Tourism Office

The people of Minahasa Raya love music. No wonder that they make music from everything: wood, tempurung (coconut shell), even from bia (sea shell) and of course from bamboo.

One of the traditional types of music of Minahasa Raya is Bamboo music. This music is really folk music not only because it is so traditional, but also because it is played by a group of people (sometimes almost a whole village), just like an orchestra. The compositions are similar to classical symphonies, consisting of a variety of wind, string and rhythm instruments. If all of the instruments are made entirely from bamboo, then the group is called a "bambu melulu" music group. The species of bamboo these instruments are made from are Bambusa vulgaris, Dendrocalamus asper and Gigantochloa verticilata. If some additional elements are brought to the instruments like brass or tin then it is called a "bambu clarinet" or "bambu seng" music group respectively