Lokananta

Not to be confused with Lokanatha.
Lokananta Recording Logo.
Logo of Lokananta.

Lokananta is the first record label of Indonesia.[1] It was established on 29 October 1956 at Surakarta, Central Java. In the beginning of its history, its primary function was that of offering a transcription service for RRI (Radio of the Republic of Indonesia) and manufacturing phonograph records and audio cassettes for broadcast by RRI stations throughout Indonesia; the master records were produced by the various RRI facilities and then sent to Surakarta for pressing.

The word Lokananta means "Gamelan from Heaven", was suggested by R. Maladi, the head of RRI at the time, and Surakarta was chosen because of its long history of radio broadcasting. Solosche Vereeniging (SRV) was the first Indonesian radio station that was established in 1933.[2] Lokananta is also the name of the pitch-black gamelan set of Kraton Surakarta (Surakarta's Palace).[3][4] It had the most modern equipments of its time,[5] including the then state-of-the-art Trident Series 80B mixer,[6] UREI 801 speaker.[7]

Lokananta Studio.
Lokananta Studio.

Lokananta has over 40,000 recordings, which include some 5,200 commercial labels, in its collection.[1] About 20,000 recordings are without cover.[8]

It currently has more than 5672 vinyl records of ethnic/folk music from all over Indonesia, and old Indonesian pop songs. Lokananta also has the biggest collection of keroncong and gamelan orchestras recordings (Javanese, Balinese, Sundanese, even Bataknese), together with the first recorded speeches of Indonesia’s first president Soekarno and the original version of the national anthem.[6]

They also have recordings of wayang performances, for example by Ki Nartosabdo, and Surakarta/Yogyakarta karawitan music.

Many Indonesian performers were introduced from Lokananta, including the famous Gesang (and his Bengawan Solo), Waljinah (and her Walang Kekek), Titiek Puspa, Bing Slamet, and Sam Saimun.

Nowadays, after the bankrupt of 2001, Lokananta is trying to renovate its image, working on the recording of new musical genres and on the re-mastering of its impressive archive on physical supports like CDs, DVDs and WAV files: nineteen people still work here and Lokananta’s main income is now the rental fee of some futsal space they were forced to create in the past three years.[9]

During the controversy over the song Rasa Sayange between Indonesia and Malaysia, the 1962 record of the song from Lokananta proven that it was Indonesian song. The record of the Maluku's song was given to the 1962 Asian Games contingent (in the form of compilation Asian Games: Souvenir From Indonesia).

See also

References

  1. 1 2 The Jakarta Post: Surakarta Administration Ready to Support Lokananta
  2. ↑ (Indonesian) Lokananta and Press Monument of Surakarta
  3. ↑ Gamelan From Karaton Surakarta
  4. ↑ (Indonesian) Gamelan Perunggu Wulung Kyai Sekar Ganesa Lokananta
  5. ↑ Recording Session in Lokananta
  6. 1 2 From Bolo to Solo: Lokananta Recording
  7. ↑ The Indonesian Abbey Road
  8. ↑ (Indonesian) Karya Budaya Lokananta Dilestarikan
  9. ↑ Jakarta Post: RI’s oldest recording studio struggles to survive

Bibliography

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