Music Technology Culturally-Relevant Toolkit

Culturally-Relevant Music Technology Toolkit Project: This participatory research and design project is functional for underrepresented people in different geographic areas with low access to technology and limited internet. The toolkit culturally engages the black Atlantic from Accra to New York. Music software with constantly streaming internet, and music hardware, are simply not available to every music creator in Accra. In New York, the PI found a similar lack of access to technology at Sing Sing Correctional Facility. Incarcerated men had absolutely no phone access, but they did have access to surfaces through the New York Public Library. The PI also discerned that underserved schools in New York may not have equity of computer resources, or the constant access to internet at home. Awareness of socio-economic or geographic limitations to music technology necessitate the following: a) Access to public, cheap, or free hardware, b) Access to cheap, free, or open source software, and c) Software tools that limit the necessity of constant streaming internet to function, and d) resources that are scalable and adaptable to be culturally-relevant. This project was funded by the NYU Office of Equity, Belonging and Community Action 2022 Diversity Innovation Grant.