Digitization of Arab Music Heritage
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Alexandria, 13 June 2005—The Center for Documentation of Cultural and Natural Heritage (CULTNAT), affiliate of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, has launched an ambitious project for the digital documentation of Arab music heritage. The set plan involves the creation of a database for all documented musical works during the period from mid 19th century to the end of the 20th century during which the Arabic music flourished.
The project involves three phases of documentation: The first phase focuses on the digitization of basic information pertaining to the musical piece name (title, the opening sentence), singers, composers, lyricists information, modes names and patterns (i.e. Arab scales), forms names, rhythms, dates and songs from musical plays; Arabic movies; TV programs; broadcast programs, etc. In the second phase, the lyrics and scores of the musical pieces are added and saved to the database. The third phase involves a multimedia upgrade for the above. A search engine has already been developed allowing the user to locate any given song by title, date, composer, lyricist, mode, form, and other relevant data. While the ability to browse the database is currently limited to the Center, plans to produce interactive CD-ROMs incorporating the database and search engine are underway.
By this impressive project, CULTNAT seeks to contribute to the conservation of the Arabic music heritage through documenting it; provide a better understanding of Arab music heritage components through applying scientific analysis methodologies to it; assist musical education in institutes and musical establishments; and provide a source of edutainment and fun to laymen.