Utilization Of Wood In Making Karawitan Musical Instruments As A Promotion Media Of Arts And Culture Through Virtual Reality-Based Application

Abstract

As an agricultural country with a tropical climate, Indonesia has many forests that produce various types of wood. Wood can be used for multiple basic house materials, household appliances, boats, and musical instruments. One of the legendary Indonesian cultural arts is Karawitan. Unfortunately, based on a survey conducted, it turns out that many people, especially millennials, do not know this type of musical instrument. Along with advances in information system technology, this research develops an android-based using Virtual Reality (VR) technology application to introduce traditional Karawitan musical instruments, mostly made of wood. This application can clearly show the wood material in musical instruments with the VR. VR works by manipulating the human brain to make virtual things feel real. The devices introduced are Saron, Bonang, Gender, Kendang, Siter, Flute, Gong Kempul, and Gong Ageng. In addition to images of musical instruments, this application is equipped with the sound of each musical instrument. Application users can interact directly with traditional tools originating from Central Java in virtual objects that resemble natural objects. The attractive presentation of this VR-based application can provide insight into the Indonesian people in particular and the world community in general. This research is also an effort to preserve traditional Indonesian musical instruments, namely Karawitan, which are mostly made of wood and are being abandoned by millennials. In addition to conservation efforts, Karawitan musical instruments are also a medium for promoting Indonesian cultural arts to foreign countries.