Audio Visualizer for Bomba Inclusion
According to the 2000 national census, there were approximately 150,000 deaf people in Puerto Rico. This audio visualizer is designed for the deaf community to better learn and understand Bomba music and their own culture.
Bomba is a traditional and special music form in which the drummers give responsive feedback to the dancer. It originates from the island's history of African slavery and is now a strong part of Puerto Rican culture and people's everyday lives. I recorded this video during a trip to Loíza, Puerto Rico with my documentary class. Our film "Rooted" is a short documentary that shows the power of cultural roots like Bomba music in fighting the social injustices that the Afro-Puerto Rican community in Loíza faces.
When we were on set in Loíza, our group had an interview with Giomar Cruz Latina, a community leader in Loíza. He runs a non-profit foundation that works as a multidisciplinary center called Cultura Activa PR. It is a center for the development of daily skills, where they work with the arts, education, recreation, and music as a means of social change in the different communities of Puerto Rico. He is also a teacher with a bachelor's degree in Adapted Physical Education and works with people with different kinds of disabilities. Part of his work is to teach deaf people to dance and enjoy music.
This audio visualizer was inspired by one of the topics he mentioned. He believes the biggest challenge for people with functional diversity is the lack of opportunity and lack of interaction with them, which prevents them from being included in different activities. This model serves a similar function as the sign language interpreter on TV channels. It translates the vibrance of drum beats into visuals and is designed for deaf people to feel and "listen" to Bomba music in live performances and Bomba inclusive classes. The 3D African drum model is from TurboSquid, and I used TouchDesigner to build the synchronized visuals according to the audio inputs.
Bomba is a traditional and special music form in which the drummers give responsive feedback to the dancer. It originates from the island's history of African slavery and is now a strong part of Puerto Rican culture and people's everyday lives. I recorded this video during a trip to Loíza, Puerto Rico with my documentary class. Our film "Rooted" is a short documentary that shows the power of cultural roots like Bomba music in fighting the social injustices that the Afro-Puerto Rican community in Loíza faces.
When we were on set in Loíza, our group had an interview with Giomar Cruz Latina, a community leader in Loíza. He runs a non-profit foundation that works as a multidisciplinary center called Cultura Activa PR. It is a center for the development of daily skills, where they work with the arts, education, recreation, and music as a means of social change in the different communities of Puerto Rico. He is also a teacher with a bachelor's degree in Adapted Physical Education and works with people with different kinds of disabilities. Part of his work is to teach deaf people to dance and enjoy music.
This audio visualizer was inspired by one of the topics he mentioned. He believes the biggest challenge for people with functional diversity is the lack of opportunity and lack of interaction with them, which prevents them from being included in different activities. This model serves a similar function as the sign language interpreter on TV channels. It translates the vibrance of drum beats into visuals and is designed for deaf people to feel and "listen" to Bomba music in live performances and Bomba inclusive classes. The 3D African drum model is from TurboSquid, and I used TouchDesigner to build the synchronized visuals according to the audio inputs.
Technology used: TouchDesigner, Blender, Adobe Premiere Pro, Canon EOS R
Example: 3D model in Blender:
TouchDesigner Output:
