My Friend Feels Colors When She Hears Certain Musical Notes
Today I discovered that I have a good friend with a touch of synesthesia. When certain musical notes are played, she “feels” colors. When an A natural is played she feels “strawberry.” If the A is a little bit flat, it “goes muddy.” If the A is a little bit sharp, it gets “a bit lemony.” If the actual note of A-flat is played, she feels “black.” If we go down to G natural , she has no sensation or feeling at all. If we go up to B natural, she feels “a sharp lemon like it could be sour.” If we go up to C natural, she again feels nothing at all. We experimented with A up one octave, just above the treble clef, and she still feels the strawberry sensation, but not as strongly as when in the treble clef. Today We didn’t have instruments to experiment with the base clef. We experimented with her eyes closed. She doesn’t see the colors, she just “feels” them and wasn’t able to explain it any better than that. She doesn’t smell or taste the colors.
I have heard of people with synesthesia, but didn’t know I knew anyone with this ability. I think it’s pretty neat.
On Wikipedia, I found this brief excerpt about music synesthesia from a larger article on all forms of it, at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia
Music → color synesthesia
In music → color synesthesia, individuals experience colors in response to tones or other aspects of musical stimuli (e.g., timbre or key). Consistent trends can be found, such that higher pitched notes are experienced as being more brightly colored (Ward, Huckstep & Tsakanikos 2006).
Color changes in response to pitch may involve more than just the hue of the color. Brightness (the amount of white in a color; as brightness is removed from red, for example, it fades into a brown and finally to black), saturation (the intensity of the color; firetruck red and sky blue are highly saturated, while grays, white, and black are unsaturated), and hue may all be affected to varying degrees (Campen & Froger 2003). Additionally, music → color synesthetes, unlike grapheme → color synesthetes, often report that the colors move, or stream into and out of their field of view.
Does anyone else have synesthesia, or know someone with it? It can apply to days, letters, numbers, and a number of other things besides music. If so, please do let me know in the comments section!
Madame Monet
Tags: a flat A is a muddy color, a sharp A is lemony color, A-flat is a black color, A-natural is a strawberry color, B-natural is a very sharp lemony color
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November 20, 2007 at 10:10 am
I did not know about that. Proust uses it all the time, mostly just as a literary device, but then he also bases his philosophy of memory and of the soul and immortality on the way a sound or a smell can bring up the past and thereby lift you outside of time and therefore above the laws of physics.
(Maybe it is not the same. His was metaphor, not a neurological code conversion. Strange.)
November 21, 2007 at 2:44 pm
It is my belief that something similar happens to colourblind people. They are after all not colour blind, but see green where we see red due to a little deviation in their programming.
I found that highly amusing in a friend of mine. I used to tease her asking her: what colour is this? and she would look and squint and study and still get it wrong.
November 22, 2007 at 9:02 am
I have a very strong coloured relationship to voyels::
A is red
E is black
I is yellow
O is green
U is pink
November 23, 2007 at 10:51 am
Miki, this is so interesting. Is it only vowels (and not consonants)? Does it happen when someone says the NAMES of the letters, or when you hear the SOUNDS of the vowels? Or, when you READ the vowels? Or all three?
Madame Monet
November 23, 2007 at 12:24 pm
Good questions!
It is only vowels, no consonants. Or better said, the consonants all appear grey to me.
It happens above all when I THINK of the vowels, I see the colours very vibrant with my inner eye.. It doesnt happen at all when I read them, and it happens a little bit when I hear the sounds of the vowels, bot the colours are much paler.
November 23, 2007 at 12:30 pm
Hi, Madame Monet!
During the last weeks there was a lot of information about the synesthesia in our TV. About the artists who use their ” special gift” for their artwork, comments from scientists,….
I put in the link to the TV-Website, although I’m sorra, it’s all in german language. Bur you may try to translat by putting the link into the google-translation-tool http://translate.google.com to translate the whole website?! So here’s the synesthesi-link: http://www.3sat.de/vivo/115569/index.html
Years ago I also made a synestesia-artproject with a viedeo-artist where we tried to allow everyone to get an idea of the synestesia-”skills”.
Greetings from Austria,
artstage
November 24, 2007 at 7:25 am
Welcome Madame Monet to Cafe Crem.
Here’s the latest. All of us have it.
Here’s the proof: http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/184
About this talk,
“In a wide-ranging talk, Vilayanur Ramachandran explores how brain damage can reveal the connection between the internal structures of the brain and the corresponding functions of the mind. He talks about phantom limb pain, synesthesia (when people hear color or smell sounds), and the Capgras delusion, when brain-damaged people believe their closest friends and family have been replaced with imposters.”
About this speaker:
Neurologist V.S. Ramachandran looks deep into the brain’s most basic mechanisms. By working with those who have very specific mental disabilities caused by brain injury or stroke, he can map functions of the mind to physical structures of the brain. Read full bio @ http://www.ted.com/index.php/speakers/view/id/164
What am I doing: Writing a book about creativity examining those who are labeled with mental illness and how they might possibly be able to re-wire their brains to function without the debilitating side effects of their illnesses and without having to resort to pharmaceutical medications to end the suffering of these individuals.
Hope this provides clarity.
Kind Regards,
Michael Pokocky
Cafe Crem Author
November 25, 2007 at 10:23 am
Miki,
This is very interesting to me, about consonants appearing gray, and vowels with colors (especially since I am a third-grade teacher). It must have made it easier for you to learn how to read!
Would you mind telling me about what color each vowel appears when you think of it? I think I am going to do some research into this subject.
Best regards,
Madame Monet
November 25, 2007 at 9:24 pm
Madame Monet, I dont know if you are aware of the book, “Born on a Blue Day” by Daniel Tammet. It explores the story of the autistic savant, the author himself. He has the ability to see numbers as forms, with colours and texture, and days as vivid colours. Synaethesia fascinates me, and I intend to get a copy of this book. By all accounts it is a heartwarming and amazing tale.
November 28, 2007 at 6:39 pm
Thank you, Kevin, and I will look for this book.
Meanwhile, today I discovered that another of my friends has a different form of synesthesia. For her, each day of the week is a different color!
Madame Monet
December 15, 2007 at 4:57 pm
very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce
December 16, 2007 at 1:19 am
I am reading that book too, and it an amazing story. Interesting subject..as a lot of your posts are Madam Monet!
Namaste’,
~suz
September 5, 2008 at 12:29 am
You can experience it with acid… its pretty neat.. as a non permanent condition
September 6, 2008 at 9:25 am
No doubt true, but I think I might be afraid to do that!
Madame Monet