"Let us allow a priori that we are all capable of being amazed, of being dazzeled by these sounds, and these colors, and of touching, through them, something of the beyond, and this means that all sacred art--be it musical painting or colored music--ought to be from the start a sort of rainbow of sounds and colors. " -Olivier Messiaen
So, seeing as I've titled my blog 'Musings of a Synesthete,' I thought I would finally shed some light into my synesthetic world, in hopes of also learning about other's experiences as synesthetets (and non-synesthetes!) It's something that's always interested me in many ways, and I feel I still have more to learn and explore on the subject.
So, I'll begin by a brief description of Synesthesia itself. The word 'Synesthesia' comes from the fusion of the Greek syn or 'together' and 'aesthesia,' or sensing...therefore it is the linking of senses. Most commonly, people with synesthesia have the ability to see colors while hearing music, vowels or sounds. Some people with synesthesia, or 'synesthetes' have it more strongly, such as seeing light spots in front of their eyes, or even tasting shapes!
According to neurologists, people with color-sound synesthesia involuntarily see colors in association with words, letters and numbers, as well as sounds. Synesthesia is also usually genetic to some degree.
First, I thought as an introduction, I would show a short video of me back in the spring of 2008, as a Yale student. Here I was interviewed about my synesthetic experiences and how they are incorporated in my organ playing. Disclaimer: I HATE the way I look in videos, so please try to disregard that part! However, I thought it might hopefully be a decent summary into how my 'colored world' works in my head when I am performing or hearing music. So *gasp* here it is:
So, seeing as I've titled my blog 'Musings of a Synesthete,' I thought I would finally shed some light into my synesthetic world, in hopes of also learning about other's experiences as synesthetets (and non-synesthetes!) It's something that's always interested me in many ways, and I feel I still have more to learn and explore on the subject.
So, I'll begin by a brief description of Synesthesia itself. The word 'Synesthesia' comes from the fusion of the Greek syn or 'together' and 'aesthesia,' or sensing...therefore it is the linking of senses. Most commonly, people with synesthesia have the ability to see colors while hearing music, vowels or sounds. Some people with synesthesia, or 'synesthetes' have it more strongly, such as seeing light spots in front of their eyes, or even tasting shapes!
According to neurologists, people with color-sound synesthesia involuntarily see colors in association with words, letters and numbers, as well as sounds. Synesthesia is also usually genetic to some degree.
First, I thought as an introduction, I would show a short video of me back in the spring of 2008, as a Yale student. Here I was interviewed about my synesthetic experiences and how they are incorporated in my organ playing. Disclaimer: I HATE the way I look in videos, so please try to disregard that part! However, I thought it might hopefully be a decent summary into how my 'colored world' works in my head when I am performing or hearing music. So *gasp* here it is:
Also, here is a written article about this in the Yale Daily News, which describes differing synesthetic experiences of other Yale students as well:
So as a general recap of this video, here are (to the best of my ability), some colored examples of what I see, based on some of the chords and sonorities I mentioned. Toward the beginning of the video, I mentioned the Vox Humana stop on the organ--which to me, sheds lots of grey shaky patterns in my mind (it's a shaky sound...go figure!) When I mentioned sonorities in my interview, I realized later that timbre would be a better word to describe them...as the quality of the sounds sometimes overrule the colors I would normally see based on the chords or notes that I would play or hear.
So, here are some examples based on timbres (sonorities as I mentioned in the video), and chord colors, based on Tournemire's 'Improvisation sur le 'Victimae Paschali.' :
Timbres/Sonorities:
Vox Humana: Shaky, grey, patterned.
Flauto Mirabilis (flute stop): Pure white, no patterns.
Chord-Color Associations:
G-minor: Brown with hints of gold. Usually darker than what I could come up with here.
A minor: Bright green, also usually darker than this appears.
And finally, E-minor: Bright orange/red.
So, I hope this gives you a brief synopsis into how synesthesia plays a part in my musical life. My synesthesia consists of the following: color-music synesthesia, colors with numbers, letters and words, colors with scents, and occasional taste sensations and associations with sounds. The most prominent would be with colors and music (mainly because I'm a musician I'm guessing). Also, having the curse or blessing (whatever view one takes), of having absolute pitch, I am able to discipher one note from another without the aid of a keyboard, and therefore also associate a color with every note. Below are some colored graphs which demonstrate what I see for letters of the alphabet, numbers, days of the week (a main example for words), and notes (using a C-major scale to represent each note):
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O
P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Eventually, I'll get into more detailed explanations of the shades of colors I see, which are based on major verses minor keys, higher pitches verses lower pitches, as well as further details regarding timbre and tone-quality of pitches and sounds. Finally, once text is added to music, that is a whole other ball game. I can't wait to describe the many different colored sensations I experience with the coupling of text and music.
Anyway, I am very excited to delve further into this subject, as it is of constant fascination for me. My newest 'projects' have been composing, based on my synesthesia. Who knows what will come of it, but for now, it's something fun at least.
Welcome to my crazy-colored world!
Anyway, I am very excited to delve further into this subject, as it is of constant fascination for me. My newest 'projects' have been composing, based on my synesthesia. Who knows what will come of it, but for now, it's something fun at least.
Welcome to my crazy-colored world!
2 comments:
Blah -- I got mixed up and posted the wrong comment on the wrong post. Sorry. Please delete the above.
Fascinating stuff. I remember once listening to a cassette lesson series that claimed to be able to teach absolute pitch. The way this person was going about it was via a color-based system. I can't say that it worked for me; I wonder if the person who made the tape had synesthesia and just didn't know it.
(If I can do this without being a jerk, you're right about the prefix "syn", but "aesthesia" just means "sensing" or "perceiving" -- so, an "anesthetic" is something that keeps you from sensing anything, for example. "Synesthesia" literally means "sensing together," so the idea is that multiple senses are being activated by the same input. A Greek word that means "color hearing" would be something like "chromacousticos", and I actually think that would be a pretty cool word to use. Anyway, if that was rude of me, my apologies.)
Thank you Richard! I did this first part of my blog quite quickly, as I spent loads of time editing my video earlier today! You are right...and I do recall the main definition of synesthesia being the 'linking of senses.' I hope you don't mind, but I used some of your input in fixing my definition above! Chromacousticos...now that is an awesome word!! Thanks for the tip!
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