synesthesia

From time to time on this list, we've briefly discussed the concept
of different types of frequencies overlapping, for example, can we see
sound waves, etc. I just read an article from the December 1999 issue of
Discovery mag, about a condition called synesthesia, and it appears that
folks with this condition do just that, and in different ways. The
article states that it's ..."a condition that can take a multitude of
forms. Some synesthetes see sounds, while others feel colors or taste
shapes." And later, a researcher says..."We've ruled out that these
people are simply telling tall tales." It appears Scriabin had this
condition, and so did Messaien, who said..."Whenever I hear music, or
even if I read music, I see colors...The piece I composed about Bryce
Canyon is red and orange, the color of the cliffs."
Very common among these folks is seeing colors associated with
letters or numbers; but, some people even feel shapes and textures
pressing on their skin while viewing objects. It's really fascinating
stuff, and not at all nailed down by the researchers. To me, it
certainly points out the non logical, mysterious nature of life and the
Universe...it also has strong implications for art and creativity. One
of the women with the condition said..."Synthesia is wonderful...Losing
it would be very upsetting, just like losing one of your senses."
Fascinating, and a field that should be of interest to all
artists...Hstick

--- In tuning@y..., "Neil Haverstick" <STICK@U...> wrote:

/tuning/topicId_20481.html#20481

> From time to time on this list, we've briefly discussed
> the concept of different types of frequencies overlapping, for
> example, can we see sound waves, etc. I just read an article
> from the December 1999 issue of Discovery mag, about a condition
> called synesthesia, and it appears that folks with this condition
> do just that, and in different ways. <... etc.>

Hey Neil, thanks for this post!

Synesthesia is exactly what happens to many people when they
take strong hallucinogenics like LSD.

A big part of the reason why fantastic light shows became such
an important part of rock concerts in the '60s is because a
lot of people in the audience (and usually the band on stage
too) were tripping on acid and could see colors as the band
played music. The light show just made those ephemeral
sensations a manifest part of the performance.

I believe you're right about Scriabin. Since I've studied
Schoenberg so much, I feel compelled to add that he too was
tapping into this phenomenon. A few years after he started
painting, he became good friends with Wasily Kandinsky, who
had theories about how colors and emotions related together.

Schoenberg believed that this also included the feelings
we get when hearing sounds. He incorporated very specific
directions about lighting, including even a "color crescendo"
at one point, in his opera _Die Glueckliche Hand_ (1908-13),
yet another piece of his that was *way* ahead of its time.

-monz
http://www.monz.org
"All roads lead to n^0"

Neil Haverstick wrote:

> " It appears Scriabin had this
> condition, and so did Messaien, who said..."Whenever I hear music, or
> even if I read music, I see colors...The piece I composed about Bryce
> Canyon is red and orange, the color of the cliffs."

My brother and I see the same colors. If one of us can't think of the name of a song, we can usually
get the other one to think of it by saying something like, "You know, the one by so-and-so that
starts out blue green and then gets kind of orange in the choruses." I should say, it's not a strong
sensation, like looking at a photo. And it's not associated with any particular shape(s). For me,
at least, it's something I'm not consciously aware of unless I choose to be. But it is a specific
sensation. The shades of color are as specific as those seen with the eye. Also, individual timbres
have colors for me, which helps in mixing music to achieve spectral balance. Sometimes a tuning
will, but most tunings offer a range of colors that blend in various ways when used in a piece of
music. I suspect that I tap into that sense in some way when I compose or improvise, and that I use
it to evaluate what a tuning might be good for.

--
David J. Finnamore
Nashville, TN, USA
http://personal.bna.bellsouth.net/bna/d/f/dfin/index.html
--

Oh yeah! Syntsthesia is very, very mych a part of my makeup. However,
haveing never even had light perception, it takes the form of tactile
textures and, well, a sorta mood/atmosphere combination. One ammusing
feature of it is that, since I've long associated tonalities i.e. A minor,
D flat major etc. with various feelings, the relatively late introduction
to my sensorium of things microtonal produces some wonderful ambivalences
in the scheme. In music that partakes of other than 12tet I gradually
develop variations and occasionally, entirely new atmospheres and I become
aware even more of the changes in these that accompany harmonic
progressions.l
Tactile images are governed both by harmonic structures and register. It
took me a long time to feel comfortable with Beethoven's piano writing cuz
those grungy chords way down in the bass felt like a hard massage with
gravel, and I wasn't sure I liked that. So there's a brief summary of my
experience with synesthesia, and yes, I'd feel terribly impoverished (an F
minor dirge, maybe) if it went away.
Jay