Comments on: Synesthesia

By: Abby

Abby — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:34:35 +0000

I find that my spatial calendar ordering is slightly different from those aforementioned, but I’ve seen others that do it like I.

Mine is one of two ways. It is either like a tower, that stretches just about a foot about my head and goes down to my feet, where january is at the top and december is at the bottom, or it is as if that tower fell, and now january is at the left and december is at the right, both a few feet to my left and right.

Another thing I associate is music. I see light colors and white when the note is high, and darker as the notes get lower. Also I see some sort of shapes when I hear people singing, the best way I can describe it is like a ribbon whipping in the air above the person’s head that is singing.This especially happens when the singer uses vibrato.The faster the vibrato, the faster the ribbon whips. Female voices appear in reds and pinks to me too.

I don’t know if there are other things I have just overlooked or not, but this is what I’ve found so far.

By: Henry

Henry — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 19:09:49 +0000

I see months roughly this way: January through May start at the bottom of an ellipse of some kind, moving up and toward the right; the ellipse gets thinner and longer through Summer, heading up vertically; and then there’s a plateau starting in September that juts back sharply to the left, and around Thanksgiving, it falls back down toward January to complete the ellipse. I experience the Fall as a richer, more elongated time, while the rest of the year seems to build up to it in a very literal way. Makes sense since I love brisk air and football!

As far as days of the week, I’m always firmly planted in what day it is and where I’m supposed to be, because each day has that “vibe.” Dates (i.e. 14th of the month) do not have any vibe for me, so I’m terrible at knowing what the date is unless it’s significant, but I always know what day of the week and what month it is because they give off specific vibes.

Fascinating; I’m one of those who didn’t realize this wasn’t normal!

By: blue

blue — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 09:11:16 +0000

I never realized I had synesthesia until my late 30’s. I had assumed everyone saw music as I saw it until I was talking about it with my wife. I know that is the reason I love long drives (we are talking hours here) where I can simply listen to my music.

By: joy mccarnan

joy mccarnan — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 03:28:33 +0000

I feel very FOUR LOVESish about this, because it seems we feel the same way about this truth, La Shawn. Check out my blog post on synaesthesia. I have two friends who are synaesthetes, and I’m just fascinated by them, and by the kind of God Who delights in and draws out such uniquenesses.
http://karagraphy.com/2003/05/31/synaesthesia/

By: La Shawn

La Shawn — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:37:02 +0000

Very cool, Dana.

By: Dana

Dana — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 22:20:44 +0000

I’ve always pictured the year as a 3-dimensional ring in 3D space, with Jan 1 at 12 o’clock and the year running clockwise. The ring is tilted at about a 45 degree angle, with the winter months higher than the summer months. Months have their own colors, and each month has it’s own size/length along the ring. My mind’s eye views the ring from different vantage points, depending on the time of year. For instance, during December, my mind’s eye sits at about October and view’s the “current” month of December by looking up at it. In May, my mind’s eye sits above and outside of the ring, and looks “downhill” towards May and the following months of summer, farther down the ring. When I think of a future event, such as my birthday 6 months from now, I “see” that date by positioning my mind’s eye on the opposite side of the ring. Here’s a link to a 3D representation of my year that I started recently. I’ve added Jan 1 as a label at the top. Months are colored and sized according to my synesthetic view of the year.

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/IXHclPeeVDFxP9TDG9Wk-g

By: Hex

Hex — Mon, 09 Jun 2008 01:31:56 +0000

I have timbre-colour synesthesia, which isnt as usefull as you might think. All pianos are blue and all drums are black but I cant compose a melody to save my life. It’s the basis of my visual art though.

By: Trish

Trish — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 23:22:11 +0000

I also see the numbers from 1 to 20 at right angles to the ones from 21-30.

The late songwriter Laura Nyro apparently experienced music in terms of colors. I remember reading that when she was recording her second album she would tell the studio musicians what color to play, and after a few sessions they understood her.

By: Break the Terror

Break the Terror — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 04:03:01 +0000

I couldn’t read all the comments because of tiredness, so if someone else has pointed this out, ya know, sorry:

Anyway, two things I know about this.

1. The singer Tori Amos has this, hardcore. She has described in detail in her autobiography, as well as in other places, that when she begins to write a song, her first musical inspiration usually comes to her in the form of what she describes as a light filament, each distinct from any other that she’s ever encountered, and she has described the musical process of writing as sort of being an almost architectural process of entering that light filament, and learning to navigate its shapes from within.

2. In my own experience as a singer/songwriter/pianist, I’ve encountered this in different forms…I can say that when I am able to completely be free as I write, which involves sitting in front of the piano sometimes and just PLAYING and releasing everything around me, that, when I find myself crossing the boundary between pure improvisation into actual composing, when a song shape is starting to emerge, that, yes, there can be a literal visible emergence, and there can be colours, and shapes, and it’s really a strange beautiful kind of thing.

I’ll also say that there are certain chords, some of them nameless, honestly, that evoke the same sorts of feelings and experiences…for me, some of the chords Joni Mitchell used in her 1976 record Hejira…those sounds that, when they hit you a certain way, you’re just jolted, and hopefully not driving…”Jackie’s Strength” by Tori Amos is another one that’s full of those sounds. “Silent All These Years,” as well. Also, I find that breath plays a role, at least for me.

Anyway, I had never heard the term until I saw this book a while back, knew immediately that it’s what Tori had described, recognized it in myself, and kinda figured “Huh! Well, I guess that explains some things about how quirky we musicians are.”

I’ve done the thing with months too, but i tend to see them in lines, with their names, and sort of with terrain, but this is weird…when i envision certain months, I tend to visualize them looking in different directions, and not consistently either. As in, I’m standing in April, yet I’m looking at May, but when I’m standing in July, I’m looking at both June and August. I’m sure there are deep explanations for all of this.

Anyway. Ramble.

Also I count stairs, even in my own house, where I know it’s not going to, like, suddenly be different, yet I do it.

By: Quick Takes - 6/7/2008 at Ray Fowler .org

Quick Takes - 6/7/2008 at Ray Fowler .org — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 04:07:09 +0000

La Shawn Barber writes about a fascinating condition called “synesthesia.” Synesthesia is “a neurological and involuntary phenomenon in which people…

By: Janey

Janey — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:21:04 +0000

I love reading all these comments! I tried for years to explain to my husband how I saw the months of the year, or the days of the week, and he had no idea what I was talking about. I “see” numbers in color, too. I didn’t know there was a name for this until I saw it on 20/20 some months ago. For me, the calendar is a circle, like a clock face, with twelve being the division between December and January, and all the months following the regular clock pattern, except counter-clockwise.

Wow. Cool.

By: Trish

Trish — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 00:03:59 +0000

I also see time and numbers in blocks. And while I don’t actually see colors in relation to music, I do associate certain colors and visual sensations with specific pieces of music. How fascinating the way different people experience these things.
One amazing thing about music is that it exists only in the memory. It is not just the notes currently being played, but the sequence of notes, that make any work of music what it is.
The human brain is truly a miracle.

By: The Marshian Chronicles

The Marshian Chronicles — Fri, 30 May 2008 13:03:09 +0000

Synesthesia – I had never heard of this, but it’s interesting!

By: pageturner

pageturner — Fri, 30 May 2008 01:20:05 +0000

I absolutely do this. All letters and numbers have a color. I also picture the calendar as a sort of rectangle. I am always “seeing” it as if I am standing in the month of May. I also see the week as 7 blocks, with Sunday and Saturday on top and the other days below them.

Strange that I found this article today. I was just talking to my husband about these experiences and he thinks I’m crazy.

By: Danny

Danny — Thu, 29 May 2008 21:27:01 +0000

This is REALLY cool. I thought everyone did this. I have several visualizations for different things. I associate some colors to certain songs (odd because I’m color blind), but these images aren’t vivid for me. What is vivid for me is how I view the calendar year, and the days of the week.

For me, January starts on the lower right and the months move to the left; at April the months turn up and move through mid-August. Mid-August through October moves to the right, November straight down. There is a u-turn at the end of November and December comes up vertically to meet January. If I were to analyze this, I would say that I always loved summer (which starts early in Florida) and Christmas, thus the vertical in those times. For the days of the week, I see a block of days that are looped in a circle.