Today’s A Journey through Aesthetic Realms will be presented in Thai, with subtitles in Arabic, Aulacese (Vietnamese), Aulacese (Vietnamese), Chinese, English, French, German, Hungarian, Indonesian, Hungarian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Persian, Portuguese, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Thai.

Greetings, noble viewers, and a hearty welcome to A Journey through Aesthetic Realms on Supreme Master Television. It’s our honor today to have with us Dr. Sirichaichan Fukchumroon, esteemed composer, teacher, and performance artist of traditional music of Thailand.

Born into a musical family, Dr. Sirichaichan received mentoring from a number of great masters, and has been appointed a royal instructor and musician at Chulalongkorn University. He will introduce to us the typical instruments in classical Thai assembles. In addition, we have the privilege of finding out about some of the highly acclaimed musicians who have profoundly influenced Dr. Sirichaichan over the years, and his view of the essence of Thailand’s rich musical traditions.

When did you first become interested in Thai music?

My father loves Thai music and he also likes to play the string instruments like saw khim Since I’m his eldest son, he wanted me to play musical instruments. He taught me how to play khim since I was in primary school, at around 7 or 8 years of age. So I started off with khim.

Classical Thai music originated eight centuries ago from the royal courts. Due to Thailand’s central location, it has been the recipient of influences from near and far, which is reflected in its wide array of musical instruments.

Speaking of Thai musical instruments, there are main types which I would like you to know. The first type of Thai instruments is the plucked instruments, which is played by using the fingers to fiddle the strings. There are also bowed, striking, and then blowing instruments.

Examples of plucked instruments are jakhe Saw duang, saw u, saw sam sai are examples of bowed instruments. Examples of striking instruments are ranad, gong, taphon, and drums. Examples of blowing instruments are pi and khlui. These are classified according to how they are played.

Regional variations further enrich Thailand’s musical heritage. Distinct folk instruments are found in various areas of the country.

Thai musical instruments also include regional instruments from different regions of Thailand: the north, isan, or the northeast, the south. These are also considered Thai musical instruments, like the instruments of the native mountainous tribe. Just like different regions have different accents, music is also like that. The third element is the song. Best known songs are Kang-kao-kin-glouy, Bulan-loy-leun composed by His Majesty King Rama II, or other beautiful songs like Deva Prasit, Prathom Dusit, Thep Banthom, Piromsurang.

Musical ensembles can be identified based on their distinctive combinations of instruments.

Piphat ensemble consists of striking and blowing instruments. Khruang Sai ensemble consists mainly of plucked and bowed instruments. Mahori ensemble consists of all types: plucked, bowed, striking, and blowing.

Piphat is one of the most classic Thai ensembles. It is played during religious rites as well as to accompany traditional dance-dramas and other theatrical forms.

Piphat ensemble has many types: first is the normal Piphat with no suffix in verse for euphony, which is used in auspicious ceremonies. When the suffix in verse is included, when singing is involved, it is called Pipat-sepha.

Pipat Deaukdamban was created by His Royal Highness Prince Narisara Nuvadtivongs. Piphat in the old times was loud, performed outdoors. But His Royal Highness wanted Piphat ensemble to be performed in theaters. Therefore, the sound must be gentle, soft, in low tone. So Ranad ek is played with soft mallets. There is also gong chimes, which is unique.

Gong chai or gong hui has 7 big gongs, 7 sounds around. The sound is grand. Then, saw u, which had never been included in Piphat before, was taken in to create soft sound. Saw duang is not used because of its intense sound. Apart from saw u, there is also khlui phiang aw, no pi. These are saw u and khlui u. Therefore the sound will be beautiful, very tender.

We’ll be back with more on the amazing traditional music from the Land of Smiles. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

Harmonious viewers, welcome back to A Journey through Aesthetic Realms on Supreme Master Television as we continue our interview with a cultural icon of traditional Thai music, Dr. Sirichaichan Fukchumroon. When our discussion turned to his mentors, Dr. Fukchumroon expressed his deep respect for those who have helped him develop his musical gift.

As a child, my role model was my khim teacher, apart from my father. But once I entered the school of Thai dancing art, I stopped playing khim and studied gong chime instead. I had a role model whose name is the Venerable Bumrung Jitjarearn. At that time, there was also the Venerable Phra Praneet Worrasub. Both were my teachers at Silpakorn University, which had just been established.

There are a lot of brilliant music teachers at the Department of Fine Arts. For singing teachers, there is Kru Tuam Prasitkul who is an excellent singer. Honestly, Thai music or any type of music around the world cannot be learned in one time from one teacher alone. That is, from one teacher, he will advise you to learn from other examples, then your knowledge will grow.

The influence of Dr. Fukchumroon’s teachers on his career goes far beyond the time when he was a music student.

Later, there was another teacher who taught me to become a professional musician and became famous until today. Teacher Prasit Taworn was a music teacher at the school of Thai dancing art since the school’s founding. After his retirement, he became a musician at Chulalongkorn University. After he passed away, Chulalongkorn University invited me to take over his position.

So it is like I am doing the duty of my passed teacher. The teacher in the old time had taught us everything: music, good manners, human relations, how to teach others, how to impart knowledge to others, and everything. Also how to live one’s life is something I had learned from him. He also sent me to study with another teacher, the teacher Montri Tramote, who received the Thai national artist award.

He is an expert in Thai music at the Department of Fine Arts. There, I learned how to compose music, how to sing praising teacher verses for the Wai Kru ceremony; I learned about Thai music theories. Apart from sharpening my skills, I learned about academic matters. I have received knowledge from both teachers, so I could become who I am.

Traditionally, the musical knowledge of Thailand was passed down through oral instructions and dedicated practice.

The charm of Thai music is that when you learn Thai music, there is no note sheet in front.

We learn by heart, that is, when we play, we improvise, like jazz music. The memorization must be excellent. This is necessary. Not only one must memorize, but also one must be able to do variations. If one’s professional, he must be able to think for himself and be able to compose music like the traditional music composers, who perform traditional songs and improvised ones. That is another charm, the listeners can tell what the level of the musician is while listening.

Without note sheets, coordination among the players of an ensemble becomes the key for improvised music.

The most important is that one will learn about teamwork. Suppose I play gong chimes in this ensemble, I will not interfere with the small gong chimes. I will not interfere with the ranad thum, ranad ek. Ranad ek will not interfere with me. It will blend all beautifully, which teaches people about teamwork and, most importantly, about harmony within the group, because no one can be discordant. While listening, we will feel enchanted and aesthetically pleased.

What success has most impressed you?

I am impressed with the work that we have done when we went to perform in France, to university students at the bachelor and master levels. They watched us perform quietly. But before they came to see us perform, they would do some studying beforehand. When they came, they would follow the performance closely to the end. After the performance was finished, they stood in front of the theater and said goodbye to us. That was my touching moment when we were aboard.

Dr. Fukchumroon is especially grateful for the opportunity to collaborate with Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn on the stage.

I used to work with Sungkeet Sai Jai Thai and invited Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn to perform with us. Her Royal Highness not only played music with us but also sang a song. Since then, many people cheer us and Her Royal Highness. This gives Thai music an honor and prestige, which is something every musician wishes to have.

Each time Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn visited a foreign country, they would honor her very much. I felt touched and proud that we have the royalties who care and support Thai music, so that Thai music has flourished and reached the people of the world in different countries.

In 1991, Her Royal Highness Maha Chakri Sirindhorn was honored with the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award in the Philippines for being a virtuous role model of public service and cultural preservation.

We sincerely thank you, Dr. Fukchumroon, for taking your precious time to acquaint us with the exquisite musical traditions of Thailand. May Buddha bless your beautiful country and her incredible cultural heritage to enrich the world for generations to come.

Distinguished viewers, thank you for being with us today on A Journey through Aesthetic Realms. Up next on Supreme Master Television is Vegetarianism: The Noble Way of Living, right after Noteworthy News. May your gentle hearts be uplifted by Divine melodies.