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The Thai Digital Music Library of Chulalongkorn University

The Thai Digital Music Library Project was created in response to the University’s mission to conserve national art and culture and Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s initiative to conserve and promote knowledge of Thai music, which is the country’s artistic property and part of its identity. The library employs Information Technology to collect comprehensive information on music in an effective way. The academic information about Thai music, in this library, is difficult to obtain nowadays. The library offers different kinds of music information: sound information on narrative music which has been given by Princess Sirindhorn; sound information on mixed string musical groups that have been popular over the past 50 years; sound information from the Department of Fine Arts; and sound and image information from the Project for Recording Information of Chulalongkorn University from 1983 to the Present. The Project was implemented by having Thai musical groups from different government units, organizations or music schools that were continuing to play in the style of versatile music masters of the past, play for recording and picture taking sessions under the supervision of Ajarn Prasit Thavorn, the National Artist and Artist in Residence at Chulalongkorn University. The library has also compiled image and sound information as well as activities related to Thai music that are academically and historically important; for example, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn’s participation in performances of the Pipat Duekdambun Orchestra as well as in other programmes organized by the University; the performances of music experts in the Chula Vathit Special Programmes; and the musical, dance and folk play performances in the Chula Vathit Programmes at the Thai-styled Houses. All the information has been recorded digitally and is approximately 100,000 minute in length, consisting of 8,000 songs. The search system is programmed and service is provided in the form of a multi-media Thai music library. It is the first library of this kind in Thailand and has assembled musical information that is most difficult to find nowadays.

On March 26th, 2006, the Thai Digital Music Library started to provide a service. Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn inaugurated the Service Section of the Music Library, which is located on the 3rd floor of the Center of Academic Resources in the Maha Theraracha Anusorn Building. In 2011, the Office of Art and Culture Administration was moved to the Art and Culture Building and, since then, the 3rd floor of the Art and Culture Building has served as the Thai Music Library and has provided comprehensive services on Thai music.