Other synesthetes on the forum? Possibly a discussion. (Page 1) - General Discussion - Forums

1 Jun 25, 2011 8:37 am

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San Francisco :P

Hey y'all, I have synesthesia (4 kinds to be exact, yes, I realize that is a lot). But the particular type I enjoy having most (the coolest one) is my sound-color synesthesia (I see sound as color, in addition to hearing it).

As a composer, I find music that can create the most interesting colors is music that I pay attention to the longest (I am somehow listening to a piece in C-minor by gabriel faure, and it is white)

So, my synesthesia color-note coordination is like this (though it's not very strong, this is BASICALLY it)

the accidentals are completely random, and don't really have a set color, it depends on which notes come beforehand and such)

C - Blueish light green

D# - so far, no specific color has settled in

D - Orange

D# - usually black (though not always, black reoocurs the most)

E - White

F# - Yellow (but with the same deal as D#)

F - Red

G - Blue

G# - Green (this one is specific

A - Red

A# - Pink for the most part

B - Green

FYI, for sound-color synesthesia, there are two kinds, projected and color-association (I have projected)

2 Jun 25, 2011 3:35 pm

El Huesudo II

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...One thing I'm a litle bit confused about. You say you see sound as color, but that doesn't actually explain what exactly is the process here. How do you see it as color? What do you see differently from the usual when you're listening to music?

I've read about symbol-color synesthesia and that's pretty damn easy to understand (not to mention that there are colorful letter example images almost everywhere). But in this case, I can't actually imagine it.

3 Jun 25, 2011 4:08 pm

nitro2k01

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Sweeeeeeden

Does the timbre of the sound affect how it looks?

4 Jun 25, 2011 5:05 pm

Frostbyte

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Dude no freaking way! I have that too, but we're totally different as far as seeing it goes. It's extremely hard to describe, but i kind of see notes and sounds as different lines and the timbre affects the shapes of them as well as the colour.

I'm kind of hesitant to tell people about it because they usually say I'm crazy, and some think it's really cool and bug me about it for hours haha.

I tend to find music that has the most variation in lines and shapes intrigues me more than less shapey music. It helps with me composing because I can kind of get lost in what it looks like and I can tell how good something sounds through how it looks. Although when I start a piece it usually looks really empty to me and it's rather unsettling until I get to fill in other pieces haha.

I also find that it's near impossible to draw anything close to what I see at all.

Some things that I find interesting:
a. Dubstep looks so weird, in a cool awesome way. Very dark green and with an indescribable texture.
b. Skrillex style house is very blue to me, and it just looks so cool
c. Car engines, birds chirping, white noise, etc. all have very unique looks
d. Rock and roll is very very very rough, sometimes too much.
e. The way i see it, higher pitched sounds are higher up and lower tones are lower in my "vision"
f. Ovenrake's Catbutt looks so awesome!

5 Jun 25, 2011 5:22 pm

SKGB

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Godzilladelph

how fast do you realize the color? are you able to hear the key right away?

Last edited by SKGB (Jun 25, 2011 5:23 pm)

6 Jun 25, 2011 5:26 pm

Frostbyte

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For me, the specific notes don't have colors, the timbre gives it the color. Not sure about the OP though.

But for me the color comes as instantly as I hear it.

7 Jun 25, 2011 6:07 pm

Monovfox

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San Francisco :P

Color of notes depends on how long I have to hear them, it's usually lines and boxes (depending on timbre, the boxes are less or more defined), also, I have a pretty much universal texture (except for some songs I get really thick circles of blue or orange). Notes are in very defined squares, but as mentioned before, I really need enough time to see their color.

Lower tones = lower down
higher tones = higher up

mine are 2 dimensional (also, the colors are very neon)

favorite synesthesia artists/composers
Gabriel Faure
Bunnymajs (he's got very simple colors, no purples and stuff like that )
Steve Reich (lFrostbyte, listen to 6 marimbas, you'll know what I mean)
Bit Shifter (Lots of yellow, pretty awesome, don't know if frostbyte'd like as a synesthete though)
I mostly get it for music, though if I focus I can see peoples voices

biggest pet peave: "HEY MONOV, WHAT COLOR IS MY VOICE?"
I give my answer "[COLOR OF THEIR VOICE GOES HERE]"
"YOU MUST BE LYING"

ps. Frostbyte, we should totally do a synesthesia collab album xD

Last edited by Monovfox (Jun 25, 2011 6:12 pm)

8 Jun 25, 2011 6:38 pm

Frostbyte

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I'll definetly check out Steve Reich haha...I didn't know Bit Shifter was a synesthete! Information Chase gives me lots of blues and grey's actually haha. And I guess we do see things the same way, with the lines and position of the notes. I've never seen circles though...that's cool. I see 2D as well.

I should try and draw how I see certain sounds. I love how i can't like, turn it off haha. No matter what it is, I just see it. I'd feel so empty without it, it's up there as one of my main senses haha. I recognize sounds by how I see them.

The worst thing ever is when people never leave you alone about it hahaha. Hey frostbyte, what does this look like? or this? why can't you describe it clearer? Can I try and draw what you see?

I appreciate it but it does get annoying after 5 million questions haha. Or someone's like "tell me all about it!" and then I explain and they call me crazy or say I'm lying haha.

I'd be totally down for a collab dude!