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Geekoid · 07-01-2012, 05:04 PM

I experience synesthesia in various ways, too, mostly with numbers and letters taking on colors and personalities; but I also tend to associate colors, shapes and other visuals and sensations with music (movement, temperature, texture etc.) seemingly via intuitive processes.

Because of the way my brain seems to processes information, I tend to combine many ideas, sensations and experiences together, and focus on them (basically, like perpetual metaphorical thinking). I have several playlists for different "meta-experiences". For example, I started to create different playlists for different colors, shapes, etc. Some experiences are automatic, others are visualized/imagined via intuitive capacities. (I wonder if they're not related).

I kind of see two different things at once with my "mind's eye," when I listen to music, one 'vision' being more automatic (requiring no thought or imagination), the other being based on my own imaginings and experience, like a daydream or memory. It can be hard to tell them apart, so I'm not 100% certain I have synesthesia for music, or if I just have a really abstract imagination.

I picked a random song to see how I respond to it, since I'm having a hard time thinking about really notable examples right now...
This song is simple in structure, so it's a lot easier trying to describe it than a song with complex arrangements, which I tend to prefer.

Boards of Canada - Seeya Later - YouTube

My automatic response to this song is a general texture and visual feeling of oil on water- "hot" in places and "cool" in others (like the feeling of standing in cold water on a hot day), with silvers, saturated deep blues (kind of like you would see in a neon light) and similar purples with an indigo undertone coming through a thick, dark liquid. The drums are fuzzy splashes of neon green faded into black, like 2-dimensional sparks, that jut upward in steep V-like shapes. There's an overall metallic feeling... It's hard to explain.... I'd have to paint it or something.

07-01-2012, 05:04 PM	#3 (permalink)
Geekoid Music Addict Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 171	I experience synesthesia in various ways, too, mostly with numbers and letters taking on colors and personalities; but I also tend to associate colors, shapes and other visuals and sensations with music (movement, temperature, texture etc.) seemingly via intuitive processes. Because of the way my brain seems to processes information, I tend to combine many ideas, sensations and experiences together, and focus on them (basically, like perpetual metaphorical thinking). I have several playlists for different "meta-experiences". For example, I started to create different playlists for different colors, shapes, etc. Some experiences are automatic, others are visualized/imagined via intuitive capacities. (I wonder if they're not related). I kind of see two different things at once with my "mind's eye," when I listen to music, one 'vision' being more automatic (requiring no thought or imagination), the other being based on my own imaginings and experience, like a daydream or memory. It can be hard to tell them apart, so I'm not 100% certain I have synesthesia for music, or if I just have a really abstract imagination. I picked a random song to see how I respond to it, since I'm having a hard time thinking about really notable examples right now... This song is simple in structure, so it's a lot easier trying to describe it than a song with complex arrangements, which I tend to prefer. Boards of Canada - Seeya Later - YouTube My automatic response to this song is a general texture and visual feeling of oil on water- "hot" in places and "cool" in others (like the feeling of standing in cold water on a hot day), with silvers, saturated deep blues (kind of like you would see in a neon light) and similar purples with an indigo undertone coming through a thick, dark liquid. The drums are fuzzy splashes of neon green faded into black, like 2-dimensional sparks, that jut upward in steep V-like shapes. There's an overall metallic feeling... It's hard to explain.... I'd have to paint it or something.