Ho Bien — The Anh

an audio visualizer for my aunt

Quỳnh Hoa is a Vietnamese singer, of which she sang a song called Hò Biển by composer Nguyễn Cường. The song belongs to a genre called “Nhạc đỏ” or literally "Red Music" the common name of the revolutionary music (nhạc cách mạng) genre in Vietnam,
advocating for indepence, peace, and socialism.

Core Idea: Visualizing an epic song’s emotions
Medium: 3D
Outcome: a 3D visualizer
Year: 2021
Time spent: 3 weeks (hardware was unbearably slow, done during lockdown)

I simply used an image as the backdrop, making it emit light onto the scene, then added an ‘Ocean’ modifier to a square surface in Blender +-(a readymade effect that mimic ocean waves). Then I animated the intensity of the waves to follow each part of the song. Uproaring or serene, epic or tranquil, the waves displayed it all.

I never thought I would present this work here, because I still cringe at the cultural intersection of 3D animation and Vietnam Revolutionary music. These two sit in separate boxes in my mind, so fusing them felt oddly refreshing, but still, the cringe is real. I’m laughing out loud as I type this.

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