
Writing with Synesthesia, Seeing Colors in Music - tintinnabula
https://americansongwriter.com/finneas-on-synesthesia/
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auganov
If you look at the bouba/kiki effect[0] almost everybody shares this
synesthesia-like shape to sound mapping.

I'm pretty sure that as the concept of synesthesia is more well-know you'll
see many more people report it.

Don't have any source for this but I feel like these synesthesia like mappings
are pretty fundamental when learning/memorizing. Seems to me like everybody
makes these unusual associations that don't seem to follow any obvious logic
to memorize things. But not everybody can readily verbalize and describe what
they're seeing/feeling.

Say when speaking or listening to Chinese I have a visual sensation
representing the tonality. Which to me is pretty obviously an adaptive
technique that helped me learn.

[0]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouba/kiki_effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouba/kiki_effect)

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grawprog
I don't know if it's synesthesia but music's always had a colour to me. Major
and minor scales in the same key tend to have similar colours just with
different tones. A tends to be a bright blue while a minor is more of a darker
purply blue. G minor's a dark reddy brown. Dminor is a darker forest green
while dmajor is a brighter 'happier' green. C major tends to be a bright
yellowy colour, c minor more of a darker yellowy green. B minor takes on a
darker yellowy green while b major tends to be an orangy yellow. F and f major
start moving into shades of light purple.

It's not just notes though but the octave and tone make a difference too.
Distorted instruments like electric guitars or that sound they use in edm
music tends to be kind of fuzzy, bass notes are full round and heavy, pianos
and bells remind me od looking through the colours through a stained glass
window or something.

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in3d
Definitely sounds like synesthesia.

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mreid
Definitely looks like synesthesia. FTFY

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asveikau
I'd say the line between sights and sounds is pretty blurred here.

But in seriousness I have heard written language described as similar to
synesthesia. We associate a sound to graphemes and text. Some people describe
reading quietly as hearing sound.

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chrisanthropic
For those interested in these things, here's a music/synesthesia study that I
stumbled across last week that sounds pretty cool.

[https://researchprofiles.herts.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/...](https://researchprofiles.herts.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/euphoria-
research-exploring-a-novel-area-of-synaesthesia-through-
music\(e0150a9c-0cbf-4756-84d5-2cdbdf122fc2\).html)

> Typically, research has focussed on synaesthetic musicians such as the
> composer, Messiaen, who experienced colours when hearing music. This new
> inquiry investigates and develops a novel approach:

> Can music be composed to evoke cross-modal sensory experiences such as
> taste, touch or smell in a general audience?

> From principles derived from current research, can a methodology be devised
> to evoke novel cross-modal sensory experiences through musical composition?

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GuB-42
What is the downside of synesthesia? It is often presented like a superpower
with no downside.

As if people with synesthesia have some kind of built-in color coding that
allow them to see patterns more easily than anyone else.

But considering that matching patterns is what brains are for, there should be
some big evolutionary pressure toward such an ability. If synesthesia for
instance is able to help make a difference between an edible and a poisonous
plant, make up camouflaged animals or anything like that, it is a direct
advantage when it comes to survival.

For that trait not be selected for and be considered a condition, there must
be some kind of drawback, but what is that drawback?

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in3d
I think synesthesia wouldn’t help much with these examples. Some common types
of synesthesia, like graphemes->color or chromesthesia (music in colors)
would’ve been completely useless throughout 99% of human history.

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Abstract-ed
Synesthesia with poetry / metaphors. strikes me as a more interesting subject.
At what point does a specific sense cross the point of abstraction that is
relatable to other senses?

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samstave
Anyone have Synesthesia? Is it a blessing or a curse?

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Wistar
My daughter has synesthesia. She is an adult now but we discovered it when, at
about the age of three, when asking her if she knew the meanings of words, she
would preface her definitions with, "That's a yellow (or whatever color)
word." It led us to realize that, to her, sounds had distinct colors and that
she found it hard to believe that was not the case for everyone.

Is it a blessing or a curse? It is hard to say but perhaps a mixture of both.

In the possible blessings column, she is, without a shred of hyperbole, an
innately skilled artist and has been since she was old enough to hold a pen.
Her works, illustration, paintings and sculpture, flow fully formed without
any apparent planning or sketchy second-guessing. It is quite a thing to see
but I have no idea whether, or how much, her synesthesia plays in it. Her
palettes are incredible.

She is not a musician but finds live music to be so pleasurable that she goes
to extremes — such as driving 350 miles round trip on a weeknight after work —
to see concerts or live acts, and often four or five nights a week. This is a
curse in the regard that it has in the past threatened her financially and I
worry about her hearing. The pandemic has curtailed this and she terribly
misses the music.

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TheOtherHobbes
The right/left brain idea is usually considered debunked, but it's still
observably true as a _metaphor_ , even if it's not literally true in terms of
physical brain function.

People with what are labelled strong right-brain skills can often do some or
all of those artistic things. It's complementary to having a talent for linear
symbolic logic, but operates in a different space.

It can also be learned or at least enhanced. But just like other talents some
people are born with exceptional ability while others have to struggle to be
mediocre. And skill levels as an adult depend on a supportive and stimulating
environment in childhood which brings out the talent, as opposed to leaving it
undeveloped.

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iamcurious
>. It's complementary to having a talent for linear symbolic logic

Interesting. Can you expand on that?

